Real Madrid’s plans to boost revenues with lucrative concerts at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium have been dealt another blow, after a local neighbourhood group’s complaints over noise pollution secured a judge’s approval for their case to go to trial.
The Spanish club could now have to defend itself in court, with general manager Jose Angel Sanchez and Real Madrid Estadio, the club’s subsidiary company that manages all business related to their home ground, named in documents laying out the charges.
Judge Monica Aguirre de la Cuesta, of Madrid’s court of instruction number 53, issued her decision over a possible “crime against the environment”, closing an investigative phase that began in July 2024.
That was when the Bernabeu Affected Residents’ Association (Asociacion Vecinal de Perjudicados por el Bernabeu) filed a complaint against Madrid, following a series of concerts held at the stadium, including by pop star Taylor Swift, who performed there in May 2024.
Real Madrid and Sanchez have three days to file any appeal from the date they received the judge’s order. Meanwhile, the public prosecutor’s office, and private prosecutors representing members of the neighbours’ association, have 10 days from the same date to submit written arguments detailing the punishments or damages they will seek.
The court documents authored by Judge Aguirre de la Cuesta detail how complainants measured noise levels in the buildings and streets around the Bernabeu during concerts held between April and September 2024 and claimed they exceeded permissible limits.
“There are indications of the commission of allegedly criminal acts, a crime against the environment, in its form of noise pollution,” wrote the judge, in a document dated January 15 seen by The Athletic.
Madrid and Sanchez, a close ally of Madrid club president Florentino Perez, have defended themselves against the allegations. A club source, speaking anonymously to protect their position, dismissed the case as not having importance and said they were confident it would fail.
Real Madrid brought in revenues of £975million ($1.3billion) last season, according to a Deloitte report published this week, of which £499m was from commercial deals.
Madrid’s refurbishment of their Bernabeu stadium was just about all completed by the end of June this year, when costs for the project totalled €1.3billion (£1.1bn; $1.5bn). To fund the build, around €1.1bn was borrowed.
The club had planned to boost their revenues (already world-leading among football clubs) by holding events and concerts at the Bernabeu.
But in September 2024 they announced they were “provisionally rescheduling” all concerts due to take place — “despite the soundproofing conditions of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and the reinforcement measures that have been undertaken” — so as to “ensure strict compliance with current municipal regulations”.
