[EN] The PSOE demands the contracts of the Nueva Romareda after the payment of 8 million to Real Zaragoza and the City Council claims its transparency

The municipal group of the PSOE has put the focus on the accounts and contracts of the Nueva Romareda company after a payment of 8 million euros to the Real Zaragoza in March of this year. The Socialists have called on the municipal government to hand over the documentation related to the operation and have accused the mayor and president of the society, Natalia Chueca, of «lack of transparency» in the management of a company with a public majority.

The socialist spokeswoman, Lola Ranera, explained that the company’s annual accounts for 2025 show losses of 11 million euros. However, the PSOE focuses its criticism especially on the section of events after the end of the year, where the disbursement made to the Zaragoza club appears. As detailed, on March 2, 2026, an industrial lease contract was signed for the operation of the new stadium and on March 4, 8 million euros were paid to Real Zaragoza for the subrogation of the obligations arising from the sponsorship agreement with Ibercaja.

«Why is a contract signed for the exploitation of a field that is not yet done?» asked Ranera, who criticized the fact that the municipal groups have learned of these movements through the accounting obligations of the company and not through explanations from the Government. «If there is nothing to hide, what problem was there in explaining it to us?» he added.

THE PSOE ASKS TO KNOW IF REAL ZARAGOZA ALREADY PAYS RENT

The socialist councilor Horacio Royo has also raised several doubts about the conditions of the contract. Among them, the PSOE wants to know if Real Zaragoza is already paying the rent of the future stadium since the signing of the agreement and if the guarantees provided for in the shareholders’ agreement have been constituted. «I do not want to think, under any circumstances, that in that contract some type of grace period has been established for which Zaragoza will not pay until the stadium is delivered,» he said.

Royo has defended the need to strengthen the audit as it is, in his words, «the largest investment of public money that has taken place in the city of Zaragoza in the last 15 years». The Socialists consider that until now they have been learning information about the project a posteriori, through the accounts, audits or the audit of the Chamber of Accounts.

The PSOE has requested that the contract between Nueva Romareda and Real Zaragoza and the one related to the use of the Ibercaja Stadium be delivered at the Board of Spokespersons next Monday, August 31. In addition, he will ask for an extraordinary Presidency Commission for the beginning of September with the aim of the municipal government explaining the conditions of the agreements and the economic movements linked to the new field.

THE CITY COUNCIL ACCUSES THE PSOE OF «OBSESSION» WITH THE NEW ROMAREDA

The Government of Zaragoza has responded to the criticism of the PSOE by defending the transparency of the Nueva Romareda society and accusing the Socialists of having developed an «obvious obsession» with the project. From the municipal executive they maintain that the accounts of society «are public and accessible» and that they have passed the required public controls without, they assure, having detected the problems that the opposition has been denouncing.

The City Council also considers that the construction of the new stadium is a «historic necessity» for Zaragoza and a key piece to consolidate the city as the host of the 2030 World Cup. Faced with accusations of lack of information, the municipal government assures that about naming rights and lease contracts «it has been aware at all times«.

The local executive also reproaches the socialists for having turned the project into a «fictitious trench» and partisan and accuses them of maintaining an attitude of «no to everything» in the face of an action that, in its opinion, will serve as an engine of economic development, job creation and urban revitalization of Zaragoza.