Bernabéu (stadium)

About

Bernabéu, (Spanish: El Bernabéu [βeɾnaˈβew] ) formerly known as Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, is a retractable roof football stadium in the district of Chamartín, Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of 83,186 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest seating capacity for a football stadium in Spain, behind Camp Nou in Barcelona. It has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. Named after former Real Madrid player and president Santiago Bernabéu (1895–1978), the stadium is one of the world's most famous football venues. It has hosted the final of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League on four occasions: in 1957, 1969, 1980 and 2010. The stadium also hosted the second leg of the 2018 Copa Libertadores Finals, making Santiago Bernabéu the only stadium to host finals of both competitions. The final matches for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1982 FIFA World Cup were also held at the Bernabéu, making it the first stadium in Europe to host both a UEFA Euro final and a FIFA World Cup final.

In the early 1940s, the old Campo de Chamartín had become too small for the growing population of Madrid and the increasing popularity of football. Despite successive renovations that had expanded its capacity to 25,000 seats, the stadium was still insufficient for the club's needs. Faced with this situation, in the spring of 1943, President Antonio Santos Peralba expressed the need to build a new stadium with an initial capacity of 40,000 spectators, although the club's financial difficulties raised uncertainties about its realization. With the arrival of Santiago Bernabéu to the presidency in September 1943, the plan for the new stadium gained decisive and much more ambitious momentum. In his first meeting with the board of directors, Bernabéu declared: "Gentlemen, we need a bigger field and we are going to build it". Bernabéu's vision was to build an even larger stadium than the one proposed by Peralba, with a capacity close to 75,000 spectators. Bernabéu firmly believed that a larger stadium would allow the club to raise more money, which in turn would enable the club to grow, sign better players, and attract more fans, creating a virtuous cycle that would benefit the team in the long run. On 1 November 1943, the board of directors visited the land adjacent to the Campo de Chamartín, located in the extension of the Paseo de la Castellana, to analyze its possible expansion. These lands belonged to the "Villa Ulpiana" estate and another known as "Entrecanales", owned by the Maqueda and Chávarri families. Shortly thereafter, negotiations began to acquire them for a total cost of 3,000,000 pesetas. On 22 June 1944, the land acquisitions were formalized before a notary: 256,667 square feet for 2,000,000 pesetas from the Ruiz del Villar family and 93,877 square feet for 1,001,069 pesetas from the Maqueda and Chávarri families. Additionally, the necessary expropriations for the urbanization of the area, including the future streets Concha Espina and Plaza de los Sagrados Corazones, cost 1,000,000 pesetas. To choose the design for the new stadium, a Competition of Ideas and Sketches was organized, in which renowned architects participated. The architects Pedro Muguruza and Javier Barroso, former goalkeepers of Athletic de Madrid and friends of Bernabéu, were part of the jury along with board members Fernando de Cárcer Disdier, first vice president, and Pedro Méndez Cuesta, board member responsible for the field and an architect by profession. In September 1944, after evaluating the seven submitted projects, the jury awarded the first prize to the design of Manuel Muñoz Monasterio and Luis Alemany Soler. The award-winning works were exhibited at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, where they sparked great interest and debate among fans. On 27 October 1944, the land was blessed, and construction was symbolically initiated with a groundbreaking strike by Santiago Bernabéu. The financing of the construction presented significant challenges due to the distrust of members and banking entities. Despite the skepticism of many people, including some members and supporters, regarding the project's feasibility, Bernabéu remained steadfast in his purpose. In a context where banks did not consider football a safe investment and where official support from sports organizations was not obtainable, Bernabéu delegated to treasurer Luis Corrales Ferras the task of designing an innovative financing plan. This plan involved the issuance of bonds with mortgage guarantees on the club's properties. The next step was crucial: Bernabéu presented this plan to Rafael Salgado, president of Banco Mercantil e Industrial and a Real Madrid supporter. Thanks to Bernabéu's passionate and detailed explanation, Salgado agreed to finance the project, convinced of the viability and potential of the new stadium. This decision was crucial for the project's realization, and in recognition of his support, one of the streets adjacent to the stadium bears his name. The financing plan was structured into three staggered bond issues:

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.