Real Zaragoza will be penalized if it does not pay the 10 million euros for the Nueva Romareda in 2025.

The Government of Aragon trusts that the Real Zaragoza sports club will meet its commitments regarding the new football pitch . The Minister of Finance, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, explained in the Parliament of Aragon that the Board of Directors of the Nueva Romareda company has a certificate with which the Real Zaragoza sports club commits to making a payment of 10 million euros in 2025.

This is the contribution that would be due to the SAD, and Bermúdez de Castro expressed confidence that the joint venture of Nueva Romareda—formed by the Zaragoza City Council, the Government of Aragon, and Real Zaragoza—will be paid for this certificate. However, " if they don't pay, some measure will have to be taken ," he stated.

In 2024, Real Zaragoza failed to make its corresponding contribution of almost seven million euros, necessitating changes to the shareholders' agreement. The Government of Aragon and Zaragoza City Council have assumed greater responsibility within the company for the construction of the new La Romareda football stadium. To date, the club has contributed six million euros and purchased the project from IDOM.

The modification to the agreement actually incorporates a series of measures, including penalties that would apply to any of the three partners who fail to meet their obligations. Furthermore, the potential payment of €16 million each has been established for loans that will not be granted this year and will be made next year, if necessary, for working capital.

For the time being, in 2025 , Bermúdez de Castro - who has gone to the Finance Commission of the Cortes of Aragón at his own request and has promised to report periodically - has indicated that for the time being none of the three partners has made the corresponding contributions for this year .

However, the Government of Aragon will do so in the coming days. In this case, it will be a contribution of 3.5 million euros (in the case of Zaragoza City Council, it is nine million euros), a figure that will rise to 11 million euros in 2026. Also in 2027, another 11 million euros will be due, while for 2028, around 7.4 million euros are expected.

Bermúdez de Castro indicated that the construction of the new stadium is on schedule and that the company expects to generate income, which includes the payment of a fee , in addition to income from the activities held at the new football stadium. He noted that, in terms of concerts, there will be three or four per year, or at most, like in the 1980s, when there were five or seven, to balance use with breaks and games. In this regard, he noted that programming like that of the Santiago Bernabéu, with an average of one concert per day, is "an outrage."

Income will also be generated from the spaces on the tertiary-use plots , which have not yet been signed and for which a study was commissioned by KPMG, in addition to establishing synergies with the holding of conferences or with the cultural sphere. These lines of activity are expected to generate ten or two dozen million euros, thus reducing the cost of the plot.

Regarding possible cost overruns , the minister explained that, at this time, €160 million has been committed—for example, the Málaga project has a cost of €250 million—and no deviations are contemplated , given that measures have been introduced to minimize costs, such as the reuse of lighting fixtures, public address systems, and stadium benches, among others. Furthermore, the minister took advantage of his speech to clarify that VAT is deductible, so this tax does not increase the cost of the new football stadium. "VAT is zero," he stated.

The various parliamentary groups, apart from the cost overruns, have also questioned the formula for bringing the new stadium to fruition. Regarding this, the minister pointed out that the previous football field "wasn't worthy of anyone," aside from being one of the worst in Spain, and wondered aloud, "Who filed the appeal?" that led to the suspension of the previous model and resulted in the formation of this new joint venture. He recalled that the suspension measure received a rebuke from the High Court of Justice of Aragon.

Opposition parliamentary groups have been critical of the operation and the model for building the new La Romareda football field, arguing that it will result in misappropriation and the use of public funds for private interests.

Furthermore, IU MP Álvaro Sanz expressed concern about the impact of the new commitments made to the Nueva Romareda joint venture, given Real Zaragoza's failure to comply and in the context of a budget extension, given that Aragón's budget has been extended until 2025. He also considered that this project should have remained within the municipal sphere. "It's a false public-private partnership," he added.

From Aragón-Teruel Existe , Tomás Guitarte also questioned how Zaragoza City Council and Real Zaragoza will be able to make the various contributions, and also wondered about the benefits the city will receive. During his speech, Guitarte asked that the Government of Aragon's commitment to football also extend to the youth camp and other professional teams, as well as to Huesca and Teruel.

The deputy for Chunta Aragonesista ( CHA ), José Luis Soro, has focused on the need for greater transparency and has therefore asked about the date on which this modification to the shareholders' agreement will be published in the Official Gazette of Aragon and on the transparency portal, which he also noted is the recommendation of the Aragon Court of Auditors. Soro explained that Real Zaragoza's failure to comply means forgiving it €4.5 million, adding that "it is not a mixed company, it is a tailor-made suit for a private partner."

From VOX , the deputy Fermín Civiac, has been interested in Real Zaragoza's commitments regarding payments and their fulfillment, while the PSOE deputy, Óscar Galeano, has focused on the company's accounts, questioning whether the 160 million euros committed will be sufficient to undertake the entire project linked to the new football field in Zaragoza.

Finally, from the People's Party ( PP) , MP Blanca Puyuelo del Val stated that this project is an example of public-private collaboration, and also emphasized that it will be a driver of economic and social development. In this regard, she noted that the impact of the World Cup on Spain's GDP is estimated at more than €5 billion, which will benefit Zaragoza by hosting events in this sporting competition.