Alex Trelinski
VALENCIA’S Roig Arena- named after the Mercadona supermarket boss Juan Roig- opens its doors this Saturday.
The first event will see 20 artists taking part in a concert paying tribute to the famous Spanish baroque pop and ballad singer, Nino Bravo, who died in a car accident in 1973- aged just 27.
Local resident Juan Roig has invested €400 million in the venue and surrounding area- €365 million of which has gone directly into the building’s construction.
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The money also goes to the logistics of setting up the arena, creating the Les Arts public school, and a car park.
The economic impact is forecast as bringing €150 million into Valencia each year and creating around 100 full-time jobs plus 400 positions associated with the various events.
It has also become the new home to the Valencia basketball team.
Roig Arena general director, Victor Sendra, said: “We estimate that more than a million people will spend the first year here “
“The Arena exemplifies Juan Roig’s contribution to society and will be a venue that aspires to be among the elite of the great venues in Europe and worldwide”.
“Now comes the operational part and there is a clear challenge which is to meet expectations and have sustainable management with income that surpasses expenses,” he added,
“Juan Roig and the family have complied and now it’s our turn,” Sendra said.
The project, built on a plot of land owned by the Valencia City Council, has various components.
There’s the Les Arts public school, whose construction cost €8 million, a public car park opened last year costing €20 million, an outdoor park of more than 40,000 m2, whose urbanisation has cost €7 million, and finally the venue itself
“The €400 million have been paid in full by Juan Roig and now I speak on his behalf because he has told me to say that he is very proud of every euro invested,” Sendra stressed.
“We have made a very powerful investment in technology, also everything related to acoustics, both internal and external. We want the music and basketball to sound good and the soundproofing to the outside to avoid complaints.”
In the first year, Sendra revealed that 70 corporate events had made bookings, while in terms of concerts, 56 events have been confirmed with over 800,000 tickets sold with 24 more concerts yet to be announced.
“Music sells in Valencia. 75% of the tickets that have gone on sale have already been sold, with 50% of them from people outside the province of Valencia, and we have not yet held any concerts,” said Victor Sendra.
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