In Madrid, next to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium, Europe’s largest surfing lagoon is being built, a gigantic wave park that already has secured funding and a planned opening date of spring 2027. The project is called Gemswell Surf Madrid and will be the heart of Atlético de Madrid’s future Sports City, a new leisure and sports hub in the northeast of the capital where water, sand, and surfboards will become part of the landscape.
The complex will have a large artificial lagoon of around 23,000 square meters, the size of two or more soccer fields, equipped with Wavegarden Cove wave technology. This system will allow more than 20 different types of waves to be generated, with heights of up to two meters and a cadence of up to 1,000 waves per hour, adapted to all levels, from absolute beginners to advanced surfers. The maximum capacity will be around 120 people per 60-minute session, which will be organized into different levels and areas to avoid interference between those who are just starting out and those looking for more demanding maneuvers.
The lagoon will be divided into two areas: the Bay Zone, which is calmer and designed for those who are new to surfing, and the Reef Zone, with more powerful waves and ramps designed for experienced surfers who want to practice turns, tubes, and aerials without leaving Madrid. The water will be temperature-controlled so that surfing can take place all year round, and the facility has been designed with energy efficiency and rainwater reuse criteria in mind, with the aim of achieving environmental certifications such as BREEAM.
A large leisure park around the Metropolitano
Gemswell Surf Madrid will also have 3,000 square meters of beach bars, restaurants, and terraces, 500 meters of shops specializing in surfing and sports, a surf school, and multipurpose spaces for concerts and corporate events. The forecasts of its developers (Stoneweg InfraSports and Teras Capital, in partnership with Atlético de Madrid) point to around 500,000 visitors per year and the creation of more than 100 direct jobs, with a view to turning the site into a new sporting attraction for the city.
All of this is part of the Sports City, the large development that the red and white club is promoting on the land surrounding the stadium: 1.14 million square meters of land, of which more than 265,000 will be used for sports facilities and nearly 380,000 for green areas. In addition to the surf lagoon, the plan includes a high-performance center with five training fields and a mini-stadium, a large golf area operated by Topgolf, municipal sports facilities, and a commercial and service area that Atlético will build in partnership with private partners.
Timeline and financing: why now?
The project had been on the table for years, but in recent weeks it has taken a decisive leap forward. In 2025, Madrid City Council granted planning permission for the “wave beach” and the mini-stadium, paving the way administratively. And now, Santander (as coordinating bank) and BBVA have formalized a syndicated loan which, combined with a participatory loan of around €15.7 million from European Next Generation funds, guarantees the necessary financing: around €60 million for the lagoon and its direct ecosystem. Atlético de Madrid will participate with around 25% of the capital of the company that will operate the facility, while Gemswell Ventures will be responsible for its operational management.
With the money secured and construction already well underway, the developers are targeting an opening in spring 2027, although some industry sources had been talking about summer 2026 as the initial target for some time. In any case, the feeling is that the project is no longer a futuristic rendering but a work in progress.
When it opens, the Metropolitano’s surf lagoon will be the largest urban beach in Europe, surpassing other similar complexes in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and France in both water surface area and capacity for simultaneous surfers.
