Visit Mallorca Estadi – design description

Why is it necessary to rebuild the main stadium in Palma de Mallorca?

When the new stadium in Palma de Mallorca was inaugurated in the summer of 1999 as the main arena for the Universiade, the football club RCD Mallorca was keen to take up the offer of moving to the new stadium. While this was certainly a step forward, from the beginning a major drawback was the athletics track and the resulting distance between the stands and the pitch. As the venue did not host many athletics events after the Universiade, the main residents of the arena were footballers.

Over time, serious discussions began about rebuilding the stadium. Proposals included turning the pitch 90 degrees and constructing new stands along the sidelines. The desire to bring the stands closer to the pitch was reflected in the installation of additional temporary stands in the 2012/13 season and in 2015, when a sizable structure was built behind the north goal, which at the same time caused the north curve of the stands, as well as the athletics track, to be taken out of use.

How will Visit Mallorca Estadi be redeveloped?

In the end, it was decided to transform the stadium into a football-specific facility, while keeping the existing form of the stadium as much as possible. To achieve this, the lower ring of stands will be completely rebuilt, replacing the athletics track and taking a rectangular shape to surround the football pitch. The place of the removed arches will be taken by additional usable space. Another important change will be the creation of a canopy over the eastern stand, similar to that on the opposite side.

The changes will cause the lower rows to be moved at a distance of 8.5 m from the pitch (compared to the current 25 m in the case of stands along the side lines and 42.4 m on the arches). A modest second tier will also be built on the stand behind the north goal. The capacity of the venue after modernisation will be maintained at around 23,000 spectators. The works will also include smaller changes, such as replacing the floodlights with LEDs and installing photovoltaic panels. The architectural studio led by Izaskun Larzabal is responsible for the redevelopment project.

How will the redevelopment of the RCD Mallorca stadium proceed?

The official ground-breaking ceremony took place on 5th May 2022 and the works are divided into four phases to be completed by January 2024. The first phase will take 3.5 months and cost €5.4 million. As part of this stage of the works, the lower level of the eastern stands will be rebuilt and a roof will be built over the eastern part of the stands, under which exactly 6656 seats will be situated. The second phase will involve the reconstruction of the stands behind the northern goal, the third will include redevelopment of the lower level of the western stand and the fourth will see remodeling of the section behind the southern goal.

The redevelopment of the largest stadium in the Balearic Islands is expected to cost around €21 million. Funding will be taken on by the club, which will be helped by funds from a business partnership between LaLiga and CVC Capital Partners. The venue is expected to remain functional during the works and RCD Mallorca will continue to play its matches there.