Socialist councilor Horacio Royo described it as an "absurd spectacle" that Urban Planning chief Víctor Serrano was the one to appear to provide these explanations. Royo questioned the payment of eight million euros to the club and demanded access to the business lease agreements and details of the consideration Zaragoza receives. "The PP government has committed the largest amount of public money this city council has ever committed to the new stadium, and therefore there must be transparency," the Socialist councilor said. He warned that they do not want Zaragoza residents to be "deceived again as they were during the previous term".
Serrano responded by denying that the eight million euros came from municipal funds. As he explained, Ibercaja paid ten million euros to Nueva Romareda for the stadium's naming rights: eight million were subsequently transferred to Real Zaragoza, while the other two million remained in the company's accounts. The councilor defended the deal as properly conducted, following a public consultation and with the information published on the city council's website. "Ibercaja paid it, not the people of Zaragoza," he stressed.
SERRANO EXPLAINS WHY HE CANNOT PROVIDE THE FULL DOCUMENT
The head of Urban Planning also defended the fact that Zaragoza City Council has made public the details concerning the amounts, deadlines and payment guarantees. The reason the full contracts were not provided to the opposition, he explained, is that Nueva Romareda is a private company and the documents contain certain structural details that cannot be made public for security reasons. Serrano pointed out that, because this information is included in the contracts themselves, the full document cannot be provided. The city council also maintains that, for the first time, Real Zaragoza will pay an annual fee of €1.1 million to use the municipal stadium.
The explanation did not bring the political dispute to an end. Unaffiliated councilor Marisa Gaspar called for details of the consideration the city receives in return for the deal, while Zaragoza en Común and Vox also demanded greater transparency and access to the contracts. Serrano, for his part, accused the PSOE of once again "complicating matters" over La Romareda and of seeking to “obstruct”.
