The Mediterranean is already from Almería

The Mediterranean Games Stadium is already owned by UD Almería until 2046. Inaugurated in 2004 and built on the occasion of the 2005 Mediterranean Games, the rojiblanca entity will manage it for the next 25 years after the signing of the concession agreement by the capital city council. The general director of the UDA, Mohamed El Assy, and the mayor of Almería, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, signed the agreement in a luxurious ceremony on the pitch itself with colorful lighting effects and pyrotechnics.

The concession is for 25 years and the global investment for the modernization works will be 15 million euros, in addition to the annual fee of 139,500 euros. “The concession is the result of a public tender and will generate 1.2 million euros per year for the city council, between the canon that Almería will pay and what the city saves on maintenance, supplies and personnel “El Assy detailed, pointing out that the figure will rise to two million the first year, when the rojiblanco club will pay 860,000 euros in licenses for the works, which will begin next week. “This season we hope to see the end of the first phase. The second is more complicated because we need to remove athletic tracks and sink the grass to gain capacity in the stands.”explained the Egyptian.

“It is one of the most ambitious projects since the arrival of Turki Al-Sheikh. It will mean a leap in quality in the sports field and also as a facility to host large events,” said the general director of Almería, while Ramón Fernández-Pacheco valued the importance beyond sports. “This project will place the name of Almería among the most prominent in European football, for which I want to thank the vision of the future and the generous involvement with the city that its president has shown from the first moment, “said the Almeria councilor.

The Annex and the Palace of the Mediterranean Games are not included in the concession, while the indoor gym will be moved to the El Toyo Pavilion. The competitive bidding and open procedure of the public concession sets the aforementioned term of 25 years, non-extendable and counting from the day after the contract is signed. At the end of the concession, all the works and facilities will revert to the Municipal Sports Board (PMD), having to be in perfect condition and free of any charge or encumbrance, the concessionaire waiving any compensation in this regard. . The UDA is obliged to carry out the works that turn the Mediterranean into a large approved venue for international competitions.

Only Almería submitted the offer to keep the administrative concession of the Mediterranean, without the existence of another bidder once the council of the capital of Almería reviewed the different records. The procedure started practically a year ago, with the PMD Governing Board giving the final approval in this month of August.. After signing, Almería can now request the building license, having to start it at the Palacio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, as it is thus established in the specifications in order for the PMD offices to move from the Stadium to the Palace.

The Mediterranean remodeling project is divided into two phases and six actions. As explained in the majestic presentation last October, the first phase will take place in three or four months, at a cost of five million euros. It will involve a modernization of infrastructures, such as changing rooms, offices, shop and even the lockers, in a separate compartment outside, just like the store. Both the cover and the spotlights, which will maintain their design, will also turn red. The second phase will include earthworks in an intervention that will lower the playing field (eliminating the athletics tracks) to increase the capacity of the enclosure.