Real Madrid’s bold revamp of the enduring Santiago Bernabeu Stadium has sparked native unrest, with residents protesting over noise from live shows and ongoing building.
The stadium, after years of renovation, that includes a modern steel roof, trendy lighting, VIP areas, and a retractable pitch, resumed internet hosting occasions earlier this 12 months.
Originally opened in 1947 as a soccer venue, the purpose is to remodel it right into a year-round leisure hub.
Pop sensation Taylor Swift and Grammy-winning Karol G are among the many main stars to carry out on the revamped stadium, owned by Real Madrid and spearheaded by billionaire president Florentino Perez.
The rich Chamartín neighborhood in northern Madrid, the place the stadium is situated, was once quiet besides on match days. Now, residents complain of noise throughout live shows and rehearsals that far exceeds authorized limits, and of drunken concertgoers urinating in doorways.
Luis Eusa, a college scholar, mentioned his grandparents’ condominium, situated throughout the road from the stadium, “rumbles when there are concerts.”
“A lot of elderly people live in the neighborhood, and they are not used to the noise so late in the evening,” he instructed AFP.
Angry residents of condominium buildings close to the stadium have put up banners on their balconies that learn: “NO concerts.”
Concerts suspended
The stadium has gone from internet hosting some 35 occasions per 12 months earlier than the refurbishment to planning greater than 300, in response to the Association of People Affected by the Bernabeu, one of many neighborhood organizations set as much as battle towards “the negative impacts” of the redevelopment.
The group argues that the refurbished stadium – now with 84,000 seats, up from 81,000 – isn’t correctly soundproofed, and its new, highly effective loudspeakers don’t adjust to noise laws.
Real Madrid has taken out three loans totaling 1.17 billion euros ($1.28 billion) since 2018 to renovate the stadium, with the purpose of turning it into a serious income.
Those plans could also be in jeopardy. The membership introduced final month that it was suspending all live shows on the stadium whereas it tries to resolve the noise concern.
Real Madrid mentioned on the time that its purpose “will always be that the stadium’s activities guarantee its commitment to the city of Madrid and are beneficial to its surroundings.”
Contacted by AFP, the membership declined to remark additional.
‘Tricked us’
Gonzalo, a pensioner who was strolling his canine close to the stadium and didn’t wish to give his final title, mentioned residents doubt Real Madrid will hold its phrase.
“We don’t believe in Real Madrid or the city hall. They sold us that this would be wonderful, and they have tricked us,” he instructed AFP.
Adding to the membership’s woes, a Madrid court docket on Sept. 26 ordered a short lived halt to building work on the stadium’s new underground parking storage and a tunnel to permit massive automobiles, resembling vehicles carrying live performance tools, to cross underneath the stadium. The order adopted complaints over the concession contract for the undertaking.
The parking storage is being constructed on public land given as a concession by Madrid’s metropolis corridor, resulting in accusations that Mayor Luis Martinez Almeida – a fan of Real’s cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid – had favored Perez.
Part of the issue is that, not like most different stadiums, resembling Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano situated on a big esplanade on the outskirts of the Spanish capital, Real Madrid’s stadium could be very near residential buildings.
“Football is on match day and that’s it,” mentioned Manuel Amaro, 62, who has labored for the previous 9 years as a superintendent at a constructing on a road going through Real’s stadium, the place the membership’s followers usually collect to drink beers earlier than a recreation.
“Nobody is happy” with the brand new stadium, he added.
Source: www.dailysabah.com