Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tour, Madrid: The cult of football
From the top-most tier, I see a panorama dotted with 81,044 seats gradually smudge with the green velvety field. The four tiers below me that successively converge into the pitch is empty. Maintenance workers are busy tending the grass; these are painstakingly obtained from northern Europe. I am at one of Madrid’s top tourist attraction—the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tour—football club Real Madrid’s home turf. Many would casually call this the Real Madrid stadium tour.
Even people who are obscurely aware of the football (what Americans call soccer) world know Real Madrid by name. The club holds the highest number of championships for both La Liga (the Spanish football championship), and UEFA Champions League, more commonly known as the European Cup. Since its inception, Real Madrid always had a universe of legendary players like Kaka, David Beckham, Ronaldo Luis Nazario, Zinedine Zidane, Christiano Ronaldo and many more. Barcelona based FC Barcelona and Madrid based Athletico Madrid football clubs can be considered Real Madrid’s arch-rivals.
Origins of the club Real Madrid and Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
Academicians introduced football to Madrid. In 1897, Madrid’s first football club named ‘Sky Football’ was established. Soon in 1900, disagreements among members resulted in a new splinter group emerging out of Sky Football called ‘New Society of Football’ (Nueva Sociedad de Football). In 1901, this new club was renamed ‘Madrid Football Club’. In 1920, under the patronage of King Alfonso XIII the title of Real, which is the Spanish word for royal, was added to the name and it was rechristened as ‘Real Madrid’.
In the early 1900s, Spain was in continuous political turmoil; the regime kept on revolving from dictatorship to monarchy to republic (not necessarily in that order). Spain was reeling under a civil war just before World War II ravaged the world. Sometimes during the topsy-turvy, ‘Real’ was dropped from the name but again picked up later. As both football and the club’s importance grew in Spain and Europe, there was a requirement for a bigger stadium than what they already had.
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, previously known as New Chamartin Stadium was developed through a bank loan and inaugurated in 1947. The galleries of the stadium could contain up to 75,145 viewers with just one-third seating capacity and the rest standing. In 1955, the spectator holding capacity was raised to 1,25,000 and the name of the stadium was formally changed to Santiago Bernabeu in honour of ace Real Madrid footballer and later the club president Santiago Bernabeu.
The spectator capacity was culled to 98,000 and the stadium got a facelift just before hosting the FIFA World Cup in 1982. Further, into the 1980s, a series of football stadium accidents in Europe paved the path for a radical remodeling of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in 1990s in which spectator seats were increased but capacity reduced, leaving no space for any standing audience.
Right now, the stadium can contain up to 81,044 total viewers—all seated. Florentino Perez, the current president of the club, has been pushing for a retractable roof over the stadium since the advent of the 21st century. This is expected to place the stadium in the list of unique modern architecture sites and reduce the noise in the neighbourhood. The work for this is underway already.
The tour of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
Most Madrileños are emotionally invested in the cult of football. Standing on the topmost gallery, I imagine the rumbles of the cheering fans that must throb the stadium during a match. In fact, the stadium is scheduled to host a match that very day, as a result of which I am restricted from touring many parts of the stadium like the players’ dressing rooms and the tunnel. Once I soak the panorama from the topmost level, the guide whisks me off to a museum dedicated to Real Madrid.
Museum of Real Madrid
Inside the museum, it is a world of its own. Football fans might never leave it and Real Madrid fans may end up shedding tears of both agony and joy as they walk past all the human stories that unfolded in the context of the club. Various trophies, from the oldest to the heaviest, won by the club are displayed on the shelves along with the players’ shoes, jerseys and actual footballs that made histories.
A section introspects the club’s interaction with Spanish politics through its seals. In 1902, it was MCF (Madrid Club de Futbol: erstwhile name of Real Madrid) carved fancifully. In 1908, the carving became simplistic. With the name change, a crown was added over the symbol to represent the monarchy in 1920. When Spain became a republic in 1931, the crown was dropped and a diagonal purple band was added to represent Castile, the most historically important province of Spain. In 1941, with the return of the king, the crown was re-added. The club altered the colour composition within the seal with no political implications in 1997 and again in 2001.
On giant LED screens, memorable moments of Real Madrid recorded from the various matches play. Photographs of footballers of old times in black and white adorn the halls. Images of the predicted model of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with the retractable roof are framed on walls. Contracts of the old days when football match winners received paltry payments as prize money are kept as relics of the bygone.
I place my ear into the hollow of what looks like a gramophone. I hear sounds—cheers and roars. These are audio clips of historic matches. A network of these crisscrosses a section of the museum. In an interactive interface, visitors can seek more information about the player of their choice by choosing him on a giant screen. In another such example, I see a wall-sized world map. Particular points on the map randomly flicker with a blue light. They indicate the number of people using the hashtag #RealMadrid on Twitter in real time. Among other cities of India, Kolkata features in this map quite prominently.
Fieldwork: Actually touring the Real Madrid Stadium
Done with the museum tour, I follow my guide and climb down the steps of the amphitheater to the stadium itself. Visitors like me are allowed to march around a designated section along the perimeter of the field. I hover around the field until I completely exhaust myself.
Moments before this visit I had twisted my ankle, lost my balance and had an embarrassing fall in one of the most important squares of Madrid, bruising my knees in the process. My colleagues and guide were constantly worried and would have never allowed me to venture out of the vehicle had they known the real intensity of the pain that I was trying to mask. Hence, my movement was already severely constrained.
In this mess of excruciating pain, I miss catching half the conversation and locating the VIP box— exclusive seats strictly reserved for those the president of the club personally invites. These seats cannot be bought with money. However, I am still more than happy with the visit and leave with a smile on my face and a memento of the Real Madrid seal punched from the vending machine for €1.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Cost to tour the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium: The ticket price varies according to packages from €17- €25 per head for adults.
Timing of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tour: The tour is open everyday but the timing varies on match days. One must contact the authority before planning.
Are you interested in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tour? Are you a Real Madrid fan? If yes, did you enjoy reading about the Real Madrid Stadium tour? Comment below!
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Disclaimer: Tania was hosted by Spain Tourism Board. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the post are of her own.
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Tania Banerjee
Tania is a freelance writer based in India who tinkers with words here and there but mostly focused on travel, food, arts and crafts. She writes for several Indian dailies and magazines.
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