Real Madrid suffers another setback with Bernabéu: Madrid High Court blocks the construction of new parking lots
The construction of the parking lots would not benefit the general interest, only the Real Madrid private entity.
Real Madrid has been ordered by the Madrid High Court of Justice (TSJM on the Spanish initials) to stop the works of the projected new underground parking next the rebuilt Santiago Bernabéu stadium, a work carried out by the club with the initial approval of the city council.
However, an association of neighbours in the vicinity of the stadium, who have also complained about noise levels from concerts and managed to stop the celebration of musical events in the stadium, has now appealed to stop the construction of the underground parking lots because of the nuisance on local residents, first because of the works and later due to the high traffic on days with events at the stadium. Back in May 2024, the high council in the city already annulled the concession of the city to Real Madrid for the construction of the parking lots, but both the football club and the city council appealed.
Over a year later, Justice dismisses the appeals of the club and the city of Madrid. They argue that the club failed to clearly say how this work would be a benefit for the public, and instead the only party who would benefit from the work is Real Madrid C.F., a private entity.
The football club and the mayor of the city, José Luis Martínez Almeida, argue that the construction of this new underground parking lot, and a 650m tunnel connecting this new parking lot with an existing public parking lot, would help decongest traffic in the area. But the High Court of Madrid says that "the shortage of spaces that may be filled for this purpose for the residents of the area can in no way be compared with the foreseeable environmental damage for them and the rest of the citizens in general".
Reasons to stop the construction of the parking lot include "the possible removal of trees and green areas that would entail the execution of the works, as well as the traffic saturation and increase in atmospheric and acoustic pollution that would cause the increase in vehicle traffic in the area, whose inconvenience would be far outweighed on the occasion of the celebration of events at the stadium of Real Madrid, C.F., entity that would benefit from the planned execution."
Real Madrid and the City of Madrid have been ordered to pay 12,000 euros and 6,000 euros respectively to cover judicial costs and now have 30 days to present another appeal.
