“We have just paid the last instalment of the loan for the construction of the stadium this year. Therefore, at this moment we do not have any financial burden in the medium or long term” said the president of the Chamber of Faro, Rogério Bacalhau.

The Algarve Stadium is managed by the Faro-Loulé Municipalities Association, a collective governed by public law that aims to achieve specific interests common to both municipalities.

“I think that what keeps the stadium going is the understanding between the Chamber of Faro and Loulé. […] And I think that was the secret: not to let it degrade, try to bring more activities there, and we will have more activities there, and we are working on that and we have good prospects”, said Rogério Bacalhau.

The Algarve Stadium, which is located on the border of the municipalities of Faro and Loulé, was built for the 2004 European Football Championship and has a capacity for 30,305 spectators.

Cost

The final cost of the construction work for this stadium was just over 38 million euros (ME), having obtained European financing of 9.9 ME and the remainder paid through two loans made by the municipalities of Faro and Loulé, according to data provided by Estádio Algarve.

According to the same source, the company reported profits of 24,213 euros in the 2022 financial year and 142,207 euros in 2023.

With five employees, Estádio do Algarve achieved 2,110,749 euros in revenue and 2,086,537 euros (of which 1,538,252 related to infrastructure amortization) in revenue in 2022, and 2,296,618 euros in income in 2023 compared to expenses of 2,154,412 euros (of which 1,540,196 euros refer to amortizations).

The mayor of Loulé also considers that the bet made to build the stadium “was very successful”.

“Today we have a centrality here in this central area of ​​the Algarve, with excellent access, with a history of intense use of these facilities, in an area that was nothing until the day this stadium justified the execution of a detailed plan for this area”, Vítor Aleixo told Lusa.

In the area around the Stadium, managed by the two municipalities, the Laura Aires Regional Laboratory has already been built and other equipment is planned to be built in the coming years, such as the long-awaited Hospital Central do Algarve.

"Over these 20 years there have been hundreds of mass events, not only football but also other events that bring together thousands of people, the latest of which was the World Youth Days", said the mayor of Loulé.

Despite initial fears, in the case of the Algarve Stadium, we cannot speak of the existence of a “white elephant”, with the revenue it has generated since its appearance was able to pay the costs of its construction and maintenance.

“There are many activities that {...] people are not even aware of. Therefore, this is why we often talk about a white elephant. But it's not, because, for 150-200 activities throughout the year, that means that we have activities there every week. They are often not known to the general public”, insisted Rogério Bacalhau.

The Algarve Stadium is also the alternative 'home' of Farense, from the I Liga, and other teams in the region, such as Portimonense and Olhanense, also hosting the Gibraltar national team's games.

“We are seeing a lot of demand from companies to hold conventions, to hold certain themed meetings, private meetings, to use our restaurant or for other purposes and not just for shows, be it football, concert or other nature”, said the director of the Algarve Stadium, Nuno Guerreiro.