New Bernabéu: Real Madrid get green light to start work
Madrid City Council has given the LaLiga giants final planning permission to begin their 575m-euro stadium revamp.
Real Madrid have received final planning permission to begin remodelling their Santiago Bernabéu home stadium, AS has learned.
Having already given Los Blancos the go-ahead to demolish the Esquina del Bernabéu shopping centre at the south-east corner of the ground, Madrid City Council greenlit the rest of the club's redevelopment proposal on Wednesday.
Real Madrid want to begin work in May
Real plan to start work on the 575m-euro project, which is to see the addition of a metallic shell, a retractable roof and other amenities such as a hotel, this May.
According to the planning-permission certificate issued by the City Council - a document that this newspaper has had access to - the stadium revamp is officially due for completion in October 2022. However, it is thought to be more likely that it will take four to five years.
Bernabéu capacity to change by just one
Real's building permit also confirms that the new Bernabéu will hold almost exactly the same number of spectators as it does in its current guise, with the present capacity of 80,243 set to be reduced by one to 80,242.