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The City Council is seeking 9 million euros of European funds to implement the 'Benidorm Open Arena' plan, focused on the bullring

 

• The local Government Board has approved participation in the EDIL call and the plan has already been registered
• It proposes to rehabilitate the bullring to turn it into a cultural and sports space for the whole year, with a large youth centre and improving the connection between Els Tolls and l'Aigüera 

Benidorm City Council hopes to obtain 9 million euros from the new call for FEDER Funds: the Local Comprehensive Development Strategy (EDIL). The Local Government Board has today approved the participation in this call with the Integrated Action Plan (PAI) 'Benidorm Open Arena', which amounts to 15 million euros and which "is made up of three key actions that materialise this transformative vision", explained the mayor, Toni Pérez. The PAI, he reported, has already been registered and presented on the platform enabled for this purpose. 

On the one hand, “the project we have called 'Arena Live', which represents an investment of 10.5 million euros, involves the rehabilitation of the bullring and its conversion into a large multifunctional space for cultural, social and sporting activities”. Added to this is 'Arena Joven', with a budget of 3 million, “which proposes the creation of a youth centre, conceived as an accessible and multicultural space, integrative, inclusive and dynamic for training, leisure and active participation of the youth population”. And finally, valued at 1.5 million euros, “the 'Arena Encuentro' project, for the regeneration of the urban environment to improve connectivity between the Els Tolls-Salt de l'Aigüa neighbourhood and the city centre, as well as the northern part of the Foietes neighbourhood, through l'Aigüera, thereby also improving accessibility and the quality of public spaces”.

According to the PAI document approved and registered today, the rehabilitation of the bullring “is not limited to its architectural restoration, but rather reconfigures it as a multifunctional and adaptable space”, which will combine “sustainability, aesthetics and accessibility” and which “will consolidate a site capable of evolving and responding to changing needs”. In addition, it will become “a bioclimatic refuge within the urban fabric”, and thanks to “intelligent lighting, acoustic and environmental management technologies” light and noise pollution will be minimised “guaranteeing a balance between cultural activity and urban well-being”.

With this project, the bullring will become a cultural epicentre with a stage, a complete backstage, reconfiguration of the stands, loading area, warehouses and hospitality spaces, etc. 

The plan also details that the multipurpose youth centre of the 'Arena Joven' project will act "as a HUB for innovation, training and entrepreneurship, offering specialised programmes in digital skills, creative economy and new technologies", thereby favouring "attracting young talent" and fostering "collaborative networks between citizens, visitors and professionals".

Specifically, it will have a multipurpose hall for events and exhibitions; training rooms and workshops aimed at digital skills, entrepreneurship and career guidance; a coworking space; a leisure room that will include video games and board games; a reading and arts area with areas for reading, writing, painting and audiovisual production; and a sports area and cafeteria. 

As regards 'Arena Encuentro', it includes the installation of two high-capacity lifts that will link Avenida de l'Aigüera with Calle Austria and the bullring, also incorporating a platform connected to a pedestrian walkway. In addition, green areas and rest areas will be created, and the entire area will be equipped with LED lighting and a water management system. 

The mayor recalled that “in January 2024 we already announced that as soon as a new call for European funds was launched, the first project we were going to recover was the remodelling of the bullring that could not be completed with the EDUSI, for which Benidorm had less execution time than many other municipalities having been selected in the third call”. “Now we are taking that project and reconfiguring it with a more global and integrated vision to meet the needs of the population, especially the young population of Benidorm”, he stressed.   

Toni Pérez has indicated that “if we are granted the EDI and the European funds we requested arrive, which we hope will be provided, the City Council will use its own resources to cover the remaining 6 million euros to complete this ambitious project, with which we will meet some of the specific objectives included in the Urban Agenda approved today in plenary session and which sets out the city we want for the 2030 horizon.” 

In fact, the deadline for the execution of the 'Benidorm Open Arena' plan extends until 2029. Thus, if selected, the plan would be put out to tender in 2025. The schedule for the first action, 'Arena Live', establishes that during the years 2026 and 2027 the complete rehabilitation of the bullring would take place; and the following two years the interior part of the same would be completed. As regards 'Arena Joven', it would be addressed from 2027 once the exterior of the bullring has been rehabilitated. It is expected to be put into operation in 2029. Finally, the ramps and lifts of the last project would be executed in 2028.