Lluís Sitjar stadium green area stays ‘rural'

He said that the Real Mallorca football club had provided no guarantees that their proposals for reform of the ground are going to go ahead. “We can't turn 75'000 square metres of green zone into a commercial area to enable the club's project to go ahead without further assurances,” said Valls.

The Councillor said that he was maintaining contact with the club and engaging in negotiations, despite the fact that Real Mallorca have reportedly threatened to change their minds and take the project to a location in Marratxi. “But,” said Valls, “there have to be legal sureties given to all parties involved before such an undertaking gets underway, including taking local residents into account.” The club had presented a renovation programme to the City Council worth 200 million euros which included a commercial centre. Valls said that the Council had asked for financial references on the company which was due to put up the investment.

He explained that an agreement would have to be made between the Council and the investors that they would still put up the money even if modifications were to be made to the Real Mallorca development. Valls said that the owners of the ground have the final word.