The Madrid Grand Prix will indeed take place
The plenary session of the Madrid City Council approved this Tuesday the special plan that will allow the Ifema exhibition center to increase its buildable area and regulate the hosting of sporting events, such as the future Formula 1 Grand Prix that will take place in 2026.
Last year, Formula 1 announced the stoppage of the Barcelona Grand Prix to replace it with Madrid.
Since then, discussions have progressed well and the project continues its construction. The first Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 took place in 1951 on the urban track of Pedralbes in Barcelona. Having been held at Jarama, Montjuïc, and finally Jerez, it has been continuously held at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit since 1991. The latter was built in 1989 for the Barcelona Olympics.
The circuit, often seen as one of the most balanced tracks on the calendar, is an ideal place for drivers, allowing them to vary several levels of driving. It combines high, medium, and low-speed curves. The wider track allows for sometimes spectacular overtaking, especially after returning the layout of the last part of the 3rd sector to its previous state with the very fast final corner.
Borja Carabante, Madrid's representative for urban planning, environment, and mobility, stated that the file had received 39 favorable opinions. He also assured residents that appropriate measures would be taken to ensure that the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit causes them as little inconvenience as possible.
The objective of this project is to modify the scope of the exhibition area;the location of the areas where the 4% extension will take place of building capacity and new sports practices.
Ignacio Ansaldo, municipal councilor of Vox, showed his support for the Formula 1 event, even though he said he did not understand how the PP supports this event: "Don't Formula 1 cars pollute?" he quipped. The municipal councilor from PSOE, Antonio Giraldo, on his part, stated that the plan was a "botched job" and requested that the matter be removed from the agenda.
It was not approved by the absolute majority of the PP because it does not comply with the standards of the Community of Madrid. In the same vein, José Luis Nieto (Más Madrid), who again mentioned Formula 1 in Valencia, criticized the fact that the municipality is very hasty in dealing with this issue: We will see how it goes.
