There are three things that never stop in Madrid: the traffic on the M-30, the shows on the Gran Vía and the works of the Bernabéu. Constants; day and night. These last, started in mid 2019they are still running. And it is that between pandemics and conflicts (the war in Ukraine forced the approval of a Extra credit of 225 million), the delays have made having everything ready by December 2022, as initially planned, would be a utopia. But the last blows are already showing, entering the ‘final phase’ of a project that beat between parties and now, without sports activity, he has gone up a gear. There are some 1,000 workers involved in the construction of the new stadium, which begins to lose machinery outside and gain inside.
The truth is that the advances fuel the illusion in the fans, while the construction companyprudent from the first day, now an inevitable optimism begins to creep in with the Opening date: on Christmas Eve. The exact day is still a mystery, because if the idea of the club has always been the 14-Dcoinciding with the inauguration date of the white coliseum in 1947the calendar has put that plan in check: falls on a Thursday, with the Champions League just before and the League after. Subject to study. But there will be an opening party. That is sure. And it will be up to the task, with a fireworks display, a musical performance and a demonstration of all the abilities of the stadium, from the roof to the projections on the façade.
The ‘skin’, almost complete
Dates and promises aside, the works advance with long and firm steps. The slat covering (also known as the ‘skin’) It’s almost full Well, all that remains is to close the corners and some small vertical strips that are kept open, on purpose, to facilitate the access of cranes. Construction sources confirm what was advanced The confidential: some slats have had to be redone because “they did not fit as expected”. A problem that has been solved without major alarms. Such is so, that this week has accelerated in a new phase: the slats of the four towers. Further dark than those of the façade and also, vertical.
That is what concerns the outside. Quiet compared to the interior. July and August will be key months to build the structure that will support the 360º marker. Monumental. It will measure almost seven meters on the sides and could reach 12 in the funds. These days a stand has been built on the ‘lawn’ to lift heavy parts at once. In fact, the 360º marker It is one of the biggest challenges of the work. Complex and difficult. Unprecedented in Spain and with some mirrors in the United States, but distorted: their constructions were carried out, for the most part, in stadiums from scratch. Building something like this in an already closed enclosure is a challenge. Daktronics is the supplier company, specialized in LED screens. It will have a 4K resolution and, although it seems too optimistic that it is working for the match against Getafe, they do want to have the complete structure on that date. That, minimum.
New seats: darker
At ground level you can already see the rails that move the grass to the hypogeum, something that is already completely finished. Another of the jewels in the crown. As for the seats, almost the entire lower side already has its new seats, in a darker blue than the previous ones, missing those on the south end, whose skeleton has been reconstructed (after being an area used for years as an access ramp for heavy machinery). The stadium takes shape and, as can be seen in the exclusive document that this newspaper offered on its website (with a drone flying over the stadium), most of the cranes and machines have disappeared, especially at the corner of Padre Damián, where progress has always been somewhat slower. Progress is also being made on the construction of the new changing room tunnel (it will have some windows on the sides that will allow you to see the departure of the players in situ), in the new boxes and the Skywalk 360º (the surface is almost finished).
Although there is no game until September 3the grass will have to be installed a little earlier, so there is a month and a half left to work at this rate. Full steam ahead. Without the handbrake of not being able to leave heavy machinery on the pitch, which crushed him last season and caused so much havoc. But Carpe Diem. The priority now is the gigantic marker structure. Probably the last great work of a project that this summer has gone up a gear. And four years, a pandemic and a war later, it is already nearing the end.