Three Stadium Project Proposals by Ángeles Muñoz
Ángeles Muñoz has made three stadium project presentations. The idea of providing Marbella with a new football stadium has a long history of political flip-flops. In 2020, the mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, supported the presentation of a private project in Puerto Banús. In 2021, she shelved it and gave way to a public-funded initiative worth 15 million euros. Last week, she announced another private project worth 130 million euros.
Public or Private Initiative for Marbella’s New Stadium?
Over the past few years, there has been much debate and differing opinions on whether the new Marbella stadium should be a public or private initiative. Parties like PSOE and Izquierda Unida have always advocated for public investment to have a new facility and have consistently expressed this view.
Mayor Ángeles Muñoz’s Stance
In the PP, what is the position of the mayor, Ángeles Muñoz? It depends, as her flip-flops have been constant in recent years. On July 24, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the company Best of You, which manages Marbella FC, presented a spectacular project in Puerto Banús that made headlines across Spain. It was a private initiative stadium, which had the backing of the mayor, who described it as a “great city project”. Best of You even applied for the concession, although that project was not viable because it included a commercial area and a hotel, which did not fit into the urban planning at the time.
Change of Plans and New Proposals
That idea didn’t last long because, a year later, on August 10, 2021, Ángeles Muñoz shelved it and announced another project that she described as “short-term”. She then spoke of an 11 million euro stadium, plus a 3.5 million euro parking lot. “It will be public facilities of around 15 million euros,” she said. She explained that the project presented in Puerto Banús was “much superior”, but that this new one would be “led” by the City Council. “The management, the initiative, the approach, will be public and municipal,” she emphasized then, and said that construction would begin in 2023.
Seeking Public Funding and Reopening Private Initiative
From there, she continued to talk about seeking public funding and even suggested asking the Junta for money to tackle the stadium. In 2022, she launched a competition for ideas to create a facility that had already risen to 18 million euros and in the summer of that year, she reopened the door to private initiative.
A Dramatic Turn and a New Proposal
Last Thursday, this issue took a dramatic turn and Muñoz announced a stadium between 115 and 130 million euros that, again, will be paid by Marbella FC as in 2020. Almost four years have passed to return to the starting point with another “mini Bernabéu”, very similar but much more expensive, to the one that was presented in Puerto Banús. It will also have a commercial area and hotel, this time already fitting in after the recent modification of the urban planning rules to make it possible.
Everything Seems Tied Up
Now everything seems tied up, including a 75-year concession, to facilitate this business to the company that manages Marbella FC, which came to the club in 2018 with this objective in mind.
