Real Madrid will go to court over the Bernabéu concerts

BarcelonaReal Madrid will go to trial over the concerts at the Bernabéu stadium. This decision was reached by the judge, who has concluded the investigation and believes the club may have committed an alleged environmental crime. This ruling sides with the residents near the stadium, representing another blow to president Florentino Pérez, the driving force behind a renovation that is becoming a breeding ground for problems. Mónica Aguirre de la Cuesta, head of Madrid's Court of Instruction Number 53, signed an order on January 15th, closing a case that has lasted a year and a half. The judge sees evidence of an environmental crime, specifically pollution, and identifies José Ángel Sánchez (JAS), the general manager of Real Madrid and Real Madrid Estadio, the club's subsidiary created to organize these events, as responsible. Therefore, Florentino will not have to sit in the dock, but the trial is another torpedo below the waterline of his reputation, at a time when the Real Madrid president is in the process of converting the club into a public limited sports company to pay off the debts it has accumulated.

Concerts and parking lots, two victories for the Bernabéu's neighbors

Although the defendants can appeal, the judge's decision represents another victory for the residents near the Bernabéu stadium, who formed an association to fight the disruptions caused by the stadium's renovation. Stopping the concerts was one of their main battles. The other was the cancellation of the large parking garage project, which was first halted by the city council and then by the courts. In the case of the concerts, the residents had also filed a lawsuit against the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and the city councilor for Urban Planning, Borja Cabarante, accusing them of malfeasance for imposing a fine of only €20,000 on the club, given the seriousness of the situation. But the judge has excluded them from the trial. In her ruling, the judge takes into account that Real Madrid, despite knowing that the stadium lacked the necessary soundproofing for these concerts and that it had already received sanctions from the City Council, not only continued holding them but also booked new ones. In fact, the concerts continued until September 13, 2024, a month and a half after the lawsuit was accepted, and after they had been held regularly for six months. Once the case goes to trial, and after the appeals from the different parties, it will be the turn of the private prosecution and the public prosecutor's office, who will have to request what penalties they deem appropriate for this alleged crime.