“The truth is that no one would understand that other Spanish cities that I like a lot and with which I have excellent relations, such as Zaragoza, have opted for this World Cup and we have not done so. It is not the Valencia that I want to lead that misses opportunities like a World Cup. That is why we are going to do everything possible not to lose this opportunity,” said the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, on June 27 of last year, a few days after her inauguration as first mayor, when asked by elDiario.es. possible candidacy of the city to host the 2030 World Cup.
A little over a year later, more precisely on July 24, Catalá and the president of the Valencian government, Carlos Mazón, shouted to the sky after it became official that the Valencian capital had been excluded from the candidates to host football matches. the highest football competition, according to the Spanish Football Federation (FEF), because the commitment of Valencia CF arrived after the deadline. The Valencian candidacy is now at the expense of what FIFA will determine in December or the elimination of one of the 11 chosen by the FEF.
During this year, various conditions have led to this situation, but the main ones have been two: the disinterest of the club’s largest shareholder, Peter Lim, in the completion of the new stadium and, by extension, in the World Cup and the disputes between the PP and Vox, partners of the municipality, which have extended the deadlines to the point that the unblocking of the urban planning took place in the Urban Planning Commission on July 17 by agreement of the PP with Compromís and with the PSPV. The lack of consensus on such an important issue will have political consequences and could mark the beginning of the end of the bipartisanship of the right and the far right.
As for Lim, beyond the resumption and completion of the works on the Coliseum that should have ended in 2019, the centenary year, his real interest lay in maintaining the urban benefits that included the Strategic Territorial Action (ATE) expired by the Valencian Government on August 4, 2022: 40,000 square meters of tertiary land on Avenida de las Corts Valencianes (committed by Atitlan), as well as 75,900 square meters of residential buildable area and another 14,000 square meters of tertiary land on the plot of Aragón Avenue, where the current Mestalla stadium is located.
In its agreement to terminate the ETA, the Government of the Botanical Pact maintained the possibility for Valencia CF to retain these rights and transferred to the City Council the power to approve them, establishing the conditions and deadlines that the club must meet (urban planning documents) to obtain them. To approve the famous urban planning documents, the City Council had a non-extendable period of two years that expired on August 4, 2024. If the documents were not approved, Valencia CF could recover the buildability without compensation.
So, last year, this entire administrative process was brought together in the City Council with the confirmation that Spain, with Portugal first and then Morocco, would host the 2030 World Cup. An opportunity that Lim did not let pass to condition the World Cup. signing of the contract that FIFA imposed as a guarantee that the works would be completed after the approval of the urban planning documents. This has always been the condition that has been imposed to sign the so-called “Stadium Agreement”, as has been transmitted to the Council itself on several occasions, for example on February 22 or in November of last year.
Finally, although the club informed the FEF of its intention to sign the contract at the end of June, it signed it on Wednesday, July 17, as reported by As, that is, the same day that the urban planning commission agreed to approve the urban planning documents with the votes in favor of the PP, Compromís and PSPV, and against Vox.
Disagreements between PP and Vox that extended the deadlines
In September last year, before signing the Government’s agreement with the PP, the municipal spokesman for Vox, Juan Manuel Badenas, had already taken a firm position regarding the new Valencia CF stadium, which had nothing to do with the PP’s: Badenas showed his refusal to approve anything that could revalue the shares of the largest shareholder, Peter Lim, and therefore expressed his opposition to the approval of the urban planning plans and the granting of the building permit to the club.
Throughout this year, Catalá, and even the former vice-president of the Valencian government of Vox, Vicente Barrrera, have tried to convince him by all means to give in, using the World Cup as an argument as a great event beneficial to the city. There have even been meetings with officials from the national leadership of the ultra party.
At the same time, the first mayor has been reluctant throughout this first year of his mandate to address the positions of Compromís and the PSPV, parties that, when they were in power, had started the process of approving the urban planning documents. Catalá, probably thinking that Badenas would eventually give in, called a meeting in May with the spokespersons of all the parties, which he did not even attend.
In the plenary session of the same month, the PP and Vox rejected a PSPV motion supported by Compromís that sought consensus on the approval of the urban planning documents, a document very similar to the one that was finally approved in July. Two days later, Catalá and Badenas announced a political agreement to try to find a point of agreement that ultimately did not happen in June or July, since the Vox spokesperson demanded, among other things, a bank guarantee from Lim for the total cost of the works of the new stadium as a condition for the approval of the tokens, which the PP rejected, surely knowing that it was something it would not accept.
Catalá finally resorted to the support of the opposition parties that it initially despised to reach an agreement when it was in a deadlock: with the World Cup about to disappear and with the possibility that Lim would recover the rights on August 4. Both Compromís and the PSPV, which began the process of approval of the tokens by the government, introduced into the document several issues that they considered fundamental, such as the characteristics that the new stadium must meet or the financial guarantees that the club must present in the event of non-compliance, something that was also included in the motion presented in May.
Deadlines set out in the forms and in the work permit
The motion approved in July has five points (document at the end of the information), according to which, firstly, the approval of the urban planning forms (constructibility under conditions) is established. Secondly, that the forms include the conditions and characteristics that the new stadium must meet, a point that the secretary of the plenary session approved in a report.
The third point establishes the carrying out of an external audit that establishes the total cost of the works still to be carried out (also provided for in the building permit). If the time comes to approve the urban plan for the construction of the housing on the Mestalla land (Avenida de Aragón) and there is still work to be done in the new stadium, the club will have to present a bank guarantee for the cost of the works that remain to be carried out. In this way, a possible sale of this land is stopped without first guaranteeing that the stadium will be completed.
The fourth point of the agreement establishes the loss of urban benefits of Valencia CF in the event of non-compliance with the execution deadlines provided for in the works permit and the fifth point establishes that before the issuance of the works permits, it will be necessary to develop the 40,000 square meters of tertiary space on Avenida de las Corts Valencianes, the club must pay the full amount of the Benicalap gym.
As reported by this newspaper, under the building permit granted, the City Council grants the club a period of six months to begin the works (the maximum established by law) and 30 months to complete them. In addition, Valencia CF must present the execution project with a capacity of 70,000 spectators in which the finishes and the updated budget will be seen in detail within three months.
Lim’s future at Valencia CF
From the entourage of the mayor, María José Catalá, it has always been reported that the opening of the new stadium would be the first step towards the departure of Peter Lim. The disinvestment of the largest shareholder in the sports field is more than evident, which at the same time has placed Valencia CF in a compromised economic and sporting situation, which remains to be seen if it can affect the development of the new stadium if it becomes complicated over the weeks.
On the other hand, the prospect of a possible resumption of work on the new Valencia CF stadium has reactivated the interest of various promoters with financial power to take over the land of Mestalla, the century-old Coliseum located on Avenida de Aragón that no institution has proposed for rehabilitation, although various experts see it as a more viable solution than moving to the new stadium.
As reported by elDiario.es, although it is not the only candidate, one of the best placed to acquire it, as confirmed by various sources consulted by elDiario.es, is Atitlan, the Valencian company of Aritza Rodero and Roberto Centeno, which already has an agreement with the Valencian club to keep the 41,700 square meter tertiary land (shops, hotels and offices) on Avenida de las Corts Valencianes for around 35 million euros.
At the same time, as also reported by this newspaper, a North American investment fund would have appeared, whose identity has not been revealed, interested in acquiring the majority stake in Lim with enough capital to make an offer and, if necessary, finish the premises. However, this extreme would still be in a very embryonic phase and is independent of the possible interest of Atitlán in taking over the land on Aragón Avenue.
