Editor’s Note
Mayor Gema Igual has firmly rejected a short-term expansion of the Campos de Sport stadium, stating it would be a misuse of public funds for a project with only a one-year lifespan. Her comments clarify the city’s current stance on the proposal.
Mayor’s Firm Stance
“I would be deceiving the people of Santander if I threw their money at a project that would only last a year.” With these words, the Mayor of Santander, Gema Igual, responded to the proposal or request for the expansion of the Campos de Sport stadium, while always specifying that she was referring to the short term.
“We haven’t even considered that possibility because it wasn’t on the table. It’s as if tomorrow they proposed expanding another piece of infrastructure: we would analyze it, but now is not the time, because there has been neither a technical assessment nor a study.”
Regarding the debate that opened in the last week, she points out that
“the stadium expansion is something that came onto the political agenda following some statements by Sebastián Ceria, which prompted a question from a municipal group. I am not making a statement because the moment we are in is about improving the Campos de Sport, with joint monitoring commissions and in total harmony. Now the City Council and Racing have agreed to waterproof the roof for an amount of 1.7 million euros and we have already defined the construction solution for accessibility.”
Future Ideas vs. Current Priorities
“It is true,” she notes, “that now is the time to talk about future ideas, because there is a General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) open to all participation and all kinds of ideas,”
the mayor explains before adding that in that context, a stadium expansion is neither ruled out nor contemplated.
“We continue in the dynamic of acting on the stadium,” she insists, “and in the future, we’ll see. The proposal doesn’t seem good, bad, or average to me. We’ll see.”
Igual points out that with the upcoming execution of a 1.7 million euro project, she must safeguard
“the money of the people of Santander,”
who could feel
“betrayed”
if an investment is made that
“is only good for one year.”
She admits she has met with Manolo Higuera and Sebastián Ceria, not only as owners of Racing, but as
“people of recognized prestige”
during a time of contributing ideas about the city, with the stadium as a topic of conversation. But she adds once more:
“If the question is whether Racing has presented me with a project, I say no. There has been talk about infographics and the outline of a future proposal, but never with a one or two-year outlook.”
In this sense, she emphasizes that the study on the stadium renovation, and on this all parties agree,
“is something of Racing’s, commissioned by Racing itself, discussed in the office and has not been presented officially.”
Official Communication and Clarifications
Regarding her conversations with Sebastián Ceria and the ideas and documentation he conveyed, she explains that
“a mayor’s meetings are never secret, but they are discreet. It is not a municipal project. They have not presented me with a project, and I appreciate that Racing itself says it is a preliminary outline, so, as it is not a project commissioned by the City Council, it is not on the current political agenda. Unlike those 1.7 million that are going to be invested.”
She also acknowledges that in follow-up meetings,
“Racing always expresses that they think we are going slowly, but that is normal and I understand it, because administrative procedures are not like in the private sector.”
She thus rules out a short-term capacity expansion from the agenda without closing the door to what may happen in the future.
Previously, the mayor had already responded to Racing, through a statement, that the City Council now rules out the expansion of the Campos de Sport and refers it to be included in the future General Urban Development Plan of Santander, which has no approval date. The City Council has issued a statement in response to Racing’s proposal for the expansion of the Campos de Sport. In the text, the City Hall
“thanks the club for clarifying in the statement made public this Wednesday that it has not officially presented the preliminary project for the renovation and expansion of the stadium to the City Council.”
It refers to the comprehensive restoration and renovation preliminary project that, according to Racing’s statement issued on Wednesday morning, the majority shareholder, Sebastián Ceria, delivered to Mayor Gema Igual a year ago without having received a response.
In a semantic debate, it indicates that
“the material handled in meetings with the mayor consisted solely of some preliminary ideas which did not specify cost analyses, economic feasibility studies, detailed plans, or execution timelines.”
This is how the Santander government team defines it. Racing defines it as a
“preliminary project.”
Regarding the club’s concern that, with less than a year until the end of the usage agreement, a large part of the actions the municipality is obligated to undertake have not been carried out, it indicates that
“the City Council continues to be fully committed to carrying out the actions foreseen in the agreement, which are being developed in coordination with the club itself and are materializing in notable improvements for the benefit of the team and Racing fans.”
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