San Mames Stadium

San Mames (also known as Nuevo San Mames or San Mames Barria) is an all-seater football stadium in Rafael Moreno Pitxitxi Kalea, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. Inaugurated on 16 September 2013, the stadium replaced the "old" San Mames as the home of Athletic Bilbao. With a capacity of 53,289 seats, San Mames is the 8th-largest stadium in Spain and the largest in the Basque Country.

History

Planning and construction

The first stages of planning occurred as early as 2004, with initial contracts signed late on in 2006, after receiving approval to build in March 2006. The new stadium was to be built next to the existing San Mames on land that was occupied until 2003 by the Bilbao International Trade Fair.

On 26 May 2010 at 12:00 the ground-breaking ceremony took place at San Mames. The event was attended by: the Lehendakari of the Basque Country, Patxi Lopez; the Deputy-General of Biscay, Jose Luis Bilbao; the Mayor of Bilbao, Inaki Azkuna; the Chairman of Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, Mario Fernandez; the President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Angel Maria Villar and the President of Athletic Club, Fernando Garcia Macua.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Сан Мамес Стадион (russian)