Palma Arena

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The Palma Arena

The Palma Arena , also Velódromo de Palma called, is a multi-functional sports hall with velodrome in Spanish Palma .

The arena and its use

The Palma Arena covers an area of ​​90,000 square meters and offers space for 4500 spectators for cycling races. The cycle track is 250 meters long and is made of Siberian pine . The arena can also be used for other sporting events, such as B. indoor tennis tournaments , as well as for concerts and other events such as exhibitions. It was opened in May 2007 with a tennis show match between Rafael Nadal , who comes from Mallorca , and the Swiss Roger Federer in front of a sold out house. The game was called the Battle of Surfaces because the playing surface was half grass and half sand. In the same year the track world championships took place here, for the occasion of which the arena was built, as well as games of the European basketball championship .

Corruption scandal

The construction of the Palma Arena was accompanied by a corruption scandal: the Münster-based architect Ralph Schürmann , who designed the cycling track, refused to continue the planning and construction because, according to his own statements, he was supposed to present fake invoices for higher amounts. He was then dismissed by the Mallorcan clients, the island government, and the Dutch architect Sander Douma and a local planning office completed the construction. As a result, costs more than doubled from around 48 million euros originally estimated to ultimately around 120 million euros, even though part of the plant was not completed. The Mallorca-Zeitung described the arena in 2009 as the “largest grave of millions in Mallorca”, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that the affair was about an “expensive cycling track” which, when it was finished, was suitable for everything except for cycling races ”.

After the end of the World Track Championships in 2007, the World Cycling Federation Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) refused to allow the cycling track to continue its international races due to numerous deficiencies; In total, more than 220 construction defects were found in the entire hall, above all a leaky roof. The cycling track itself had to be completely renewed in 2011 due to water damage. Corruption investigations have been started against several Mallorcan politicians in this context; there was a suspicion that they had made the difference between the real costs and the fake invoice amounts into their own pockets. In March 2012, the former President of the Balearic Islands , Jaume Matas , was sentenced to six years in prison in a first of several trials.

Individual evidence

  1. Tennis thriller: Sand beats lawn on stponsa.de v. May 7, 2005
  2. thebattleofsurfaces.com
  3. a b Palma Arena: The largest grave of millions on Mallorca on mallorcazeitung.es v. August 12, 2009
  4. Gone are the sweet times of early retirement on faz.net of March 22, 2012
  5. Palma's cycling stadium without cycling races on mallorcazeitung.es v. March 9th, 2009 It is said that the UCI was aware of the deficiencies, including security, before the World Cup, but still let the competitions take place because no replacement venue could be found so shortly before the World Cup.
  6. Palma Arena has more than 220 construction defects on mallorcainfos.com
  7. Palma Arena is getting a new cycling track on antenne-mallorca.net v. May 17, 2011  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.antenne-mallorca.net  
  8. Mallorca newspaper v. June 18, 2008 as well as Mallorcazeitung v. August 12, 2009 Taz.de: "The ex-head of government and his palace" Taz-online from April 1, 2010
  9. Palma Arena case: Ex-Prime Minister Matas sentenced to six years in prison on mallorcazeitung.es v. March 22, 2012
  10. Questions & Answers about the Palma Arena case on mallorcazeitung.es v. February 9, 2012

Web links

Coordinates: 39 ° 35 ′ 17.3 "  N , 2 ° 38 ′ 35"  E