Spain: Valencia resumes work on Nou Mestalla with new project
source: StadiumDB.com; author: Miguel Ciołczyk Garcia
Sixteen years of stalemate, six projects and six presidents. And then, finally, work on the Nou Mestalla returned yesterday. The stadium is supposed to be a "monument" and a "beacon of hope," but the club and the contractor are facing tight deadlines, financial problems and zero public trust.
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Impasse broken, countdown begins
We're not just building a stadium, we're building a monument,
stated Valencia president Lay Hoon Chan at the ceremony of the return of the works at Nou Mestalla. As work began on the site, the club unveiled a new design, the sixth since 2006: 70,044 seats, an open design and a translucent roof.
The avant-garde, albeit simple, design and references to Mediterranean culture make it stand out among Spanish stadiums, although it's hard not to notice some similarities with the design of the new Camp Nou. The project has even received a new logo, symbolizing the merging of the Mediterranean identity with the architectural structure of the stadium.
With the return to the construction site, Spanish FCC (the same contractor as in 2007) has 30 months to complete the work. This means that on 10 July 2027, the Nou Mestalla must be completed. Otherwise, the club will have to find an amount equivalent to the cost of construction, which it is now covering with loans, to prove it can continue the work.
Despite this challenge, Lay Hoon Chan described the project as a beacon of hope.
And hope is what Murcielagos’ fans need as never before. Hope for Peter Lim's sale of the club, hope for the actual completion of the work and payment of debts, and finally hope for the team to rise from the bottom of La Liga table. Two decades ago, when the construction of the Nou Mestalla was being announced, today's situation was unimaginable.
You can learn more about the details of Nou Mestalla in a video on our Youtube channel. We showcased the renderings published on January 10:
A sudden rise, a painful fall
Spring 2004. Rafa Benitez's Valencia wins its sixth La Liga championship in its history and wins the UEFA Cup. A few months later, already under Claudio Ranieri, Murcielagos beat FC Porto 2:1 at the Stade Louis II to return home with the UEFA Super Cup.
The golden age of the club from the Turia River arouses the enthusiasm of the fans and results in the presentation by President Juan Soler at the end of 2006 of the Nou Mestalla project, the best stadium in Europe.
Work begins just a few months later. The stadium is set to be completed in the summer of 2010.
However, the housing crisis kills Soler's plan to cover the construction costs through the sale of the old
Estadio Mestalla. On February 25, 2009, the club, already managed by Vicente Soriano Serra, announces a temporary
halt to the works on the Nou Mestalla. The skeleton of the stadium is by then completely finished, but the club's debt reaches €547M. Despite repeated attempts, work is not resumed. The balance of the next 16 years is 6 presidents, 4 different projects and an image collapse.
© Valencia CF | The original design for the Nou Mestalla was for 75,000 seats and would cost €344 million.
Without a stadium, there is no World Cup
As a result, fans are still going to the aging and long-unrenovated Mestalla, and the city has lost a historic opportunity to host the World Cup again. Yesterday's return of the machinery to the Nou Mestalla came too late for Valencia, the country's third-largest city, to receive a place among Spain's 11 hosts of the World Cup 2030. The absence on the list is a prestigious blow to both Valencia and the club itself.
Despite the diplomatic offensive started by the new president of the Spanish federation, a World Cup remontada is unlikely. After more than a dozen years of empty declarations, trust in the club's governing body is negligible among fans, politicians and FIFA activists alike. Nevertheless, according to the Spanish press, the club has submitted its own bid book
to the federation. A chance to change the situation could be potential problems for one of the Spanish host cities, such as A Coruña or Malaga.
© Valencia CF | Over the years, designs for the Nou Mestalla have been gradually trimmed to reduce costs. Pictured here is the 2022 design
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