Madrid has just given a name to one of its major white elephants: the failed Olympic Aquatic Center will be transformed into a mega-complex for leisure, sports, music, and education that José Luis Martínez-Almeida has presented as “the best and largest leisure, education, and sports complex in Europe.”
The site of the former Aquatic Center, next to the Cívitas Metropolitano Stadium and the M-40, had been left unfinished for over a decade, a reminder of the failed Olympic project. Now, the City Council has given the green light to a comprehensive transformation financed by the private company Barsento S.L.U. (linked to Atlético de Madrid), which will build a multifunctional complex there consisting of three major components:
- A concert hall with a capacity for some 20,000 people, designed to compete with the major European venues and reinforce Madrid’s position as a capital of live music.
- A university campus for higher education and vocational training, managed by Alfonso X el Sabio University, with space for more than 2,300 students.
- A large GoFit sports center, with indoor and outdoor pools and capacity for up to 9,000 users, conceived as a sports and wellness hub for the entire San Blas-Canillejas district.
A “hub” for concerts and shows
The most striking feature of the mega-project is the new indoor venue for major events. According to municipal information, the concert hall will have a capacity slightly larger than that of the Movistar Arena and aims to attract international tours, artist residencies, and large-scale shows that until now either bypassed the city or were spread out among smaller venues.
The mayor has described it as part of the strategy to turn Madrid into “one of the world’s major music hubs,” emphasizing that the complex “will enable the city to become a major hub for artists” thanks to the combination of an indoor venue, transportation connections, and hotel and leisure offerings in the vicinity of the Metropolitano.
Private investment on public land
The project will be built on a plot of approximately 66,000 square meters, leased for 75 years to Atlético de Madrid, which, through Barsento, will be responsible for the investment and operation of the complex. The City Council defends the operation as an example of public-private collaboration that allows for the use of unfinished infrastructure at no cost to the municipal coffers, while creating a new economic and leisure hub in the northeast of the city.
The mega-complex will also coexist with other ongoing developments in the area, such as the future Atlético de Madrid Sports City and the transformation of the M-40 corridor, consolidating a corridor of facilities that will completely change the image of the former “Olympic skeleton.”