Stadium or suburb: UD Las Palmas president sets out dual vision
The president of UD Las Palmas, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, has announced he will promote a new neighbourhood with 1,230 homes in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria if the club cannot secure a new stadium. The development would be built on two plots the club owns in Almatriche, a key expansion area for the city.
World Cup stadium remains the top priority
This alternative plan was revealed by Ramírez last night to journalists before the team’s New Year’s Eve dinner. He stressed that the club’s primary goal is to take over the management of the Estadio de Gran Canaria after its renovation. The island’s council is funding the €100 million-plus refurbishment in preparation for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, for which the stadium will be a host venue.
Navigating a relationship of “eternal love”
The issue has sparked a public exchange of statements in recent days between the club and the Gran Canaria council. Ramírez acknowledged that the club will have to pay to operate the revamped ‘new bombonera’ in Siete Palmas, the neighbourhood where the island’s stadium is located. Despite this, he emphasised that the council and UD Las Palmas share “a relationship of eternal love” that will not be broken by the matter.
“No one understands Gran Canaria without UD, and UD does not understand life without Gran Canaria. We will find a solution,” he stated, as confirmed by EFE on Wednesday. The final decision is expected in 2029, and Ramírez expressed confidence that both parties will seek a feasible agreement.
The “Plan B”: a club-branded neighbourhood
Ramírez advanced that if the club cannot manage the future Estadio de Gran Canaria, it will execute its ‘Plan B’. This involves constructing a residential complex with 1,250 homes, plus restaurants and leisure facilities on its Almatriche land. This would become “the UD Las Palmas neighbourhood”, and the club would “wait and see”.
The need to repay a public investment
In any case, Ramírez recognised that the club would have to repay the council’s multi-million euro investment in the stadium renovation for a private company like UD Las Palmas to operate it. He alluded to the situation in Zaragoza, where the football club’s stadium operation was given to “foreign capital”.
“Why wouldn’t they give it to UD if all the capital is Canarian?” he questioned. Hoping to avoid conflict, Ramírez accepted that the club’s “logical and historic” demand “has not gone down well”, leading him to step back for now. He referred to the council as “one of the best sponsors and the institution that has never abandoned UD.”
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