The regional government, City Council and Province Deputation have prepared a draft agreement detailing the costs of the Nueva Rosaleda. The cost will be higher than that of the RCDE Stadium and even San Mamés, but politicians are hopeful that Málaga will join in the investment as co-owner of the stadium.

€271M in equal shares

Diario Sur and Radio Marca report to have accessed the draft agreement to be signed by the Junta de Andalucía (regional government), Diputación Provincial (provincial deputation) and Málaga City Council. The document specifies that the total cost of the new La Rosaleda will be €271 million euros, split equally (around 90 million) between the three administrations. But not all of the amount will go to rebuilding the stadium.

The work itself will cost around €216M, the bridge-plaza over the Guadalmedina river more than 14 million, works on the surroundings 9 million, as will the management: another 9 million. The remaining €22M will be dedicated to adapting and temporarily expanding the athletics stadium so that Málaga can play there for the duration of the works. But even discounting the cost of adapting the temporary venue for the club, the new La Rosaleda will be more expensive than RCDE Stadium and San Mamés.

€5,500 per seat

The cost of the stadium and its surroundings will amount to around €250M, €5,555 per seat. The price of a seat at the RCDE Stadium today would be €2,875 and at San Mamés, €4,245. The home of Espanyol cost €83M in 2009, which today would be around €115M. Meanwhile, Athletic’s temple cost €180M in 2014, which translates to around €225M today. The new La Romareda, already under construction in Zaragoza, will cost less than €140M – about half that of Málaga's future stadium.

Borja Vivas, councillor for sports at the Town Hall, told Málaga Hoy that the agreement is close to being signed. However, he indicates that the hope is that Málaga CF itself will invest in the stadium and then be able to manage it, or even become the co-owner of La Rosaleda, which currently belongs to the three administrations. If someone wants to join, wonderful, and if not, we'll do it ourselves, he said, referring to the high cost of the project.

If Málaga decides not to join the investment, Vivas does not rule out the possibility of another private partner. If external people come in, they will want to make the stadium profitable, as is normal, and Málaga will be a little bit up in the air, in the sense that they will come from time to time to play, the councillor warned.

© Junta de Andalucía | The new La Rosaleda will have a capacity of around 45,000 seats.

Meanwhile, Spanish Federation president Rafael Louzán assures that he is not aware that Malaga is in any danger as host for the 2030 World Cup. In any case, he clarifies that FIFA has the last word. It is the international federation led by Gianni Infantino that will decide whether to reduce the number of venues, change some for others or follow the recommendations of the federations.