November 25 – Valencia CF’s new home, the Nou Mestalla, has taken some baby steps towards completion.
The first 38-metre roof pillars have been delivered, moving all the way from Galicia in slow-moving convoys that inched their way across Spain. Each piece weighs more than 30 tonnes. After so many years of promises, these pillars’ arrival is the first proper sign to the long-suffering supporter base that the club might finally be on course for its projected 2027 opening.
The pillars were built in the Horta Coslada plant and will carry the weight of a roof that, once finished, will push close to 4,800 tonnes. Crews prepped the site in mid-November, dropping heavy steel foundation plates into the ground to lock everything in place. Valencia expect a steady stream of the next elements, including all fifty steel columns, the stair towers, and the circular structure that will complete the roof.
It represents progress, but it also raises the bigger question hanging over every major stadium project in Spain as to why these builds so often slip into delays, risk, and political friction?
Take the Bernabéu. The end product is stunning, but Real Madrid’s renovation blew past its initial timeline and needed fresh injections of financing more than once. Or look at their rivals, Barcelona, who have only just moved back into a partially completed Camp Nou.
That build has stumbled through delays and shifting budgets. Both clubs ran into the same mix of issues, including complex engineering, heavy financial pressure, and political negotiations that move at their own unpredictable pace.
But the Nou Mestalla is the prime example of a much-delayed construction project as work initially began as long ago as 2007 before being halted for financial reasons.