A new survey reckons that Madrid has spent over 9 billion euros attempting to win the Olympic bid over the last three bids, against the total Olympic cost to London of 12 billion.
Some wag has asked the Guinness book of world records to award Madrid the title of “City that has spent the most bidding for the Olympics without winning”.
You see, over the decade, Madrid has spent a vast amount upgrading its sporting facilites, but always with one objective: the Olympics. Which means the place is now littered with very expensive white elephant stadiums that aren’t really must use.
This has left Madrid townhall with a staggering 7 billion euro debt which it can barely maintain.
Amongst the list of “useless Olympic orientated infrastructure:
-The M30 motorway (8 billion euros) which was altered several times in order to connect “Olympic” stadiums (despite making it less useful)
-The huge “Centro Internacional de Convenciones” next to the massive skyscrapers, which still isn’t open and is a massive sinkhole
-Several huge stadiums which were built and then quietly sold off at massive losses after the previous failed bids
-The massive Caja Mágica or Madrid Arena stadiums, both financial sinkholes which aren’t practical for everyday use (indeed, Madrid Arena is now mainly used for concerts).
etc etc etc.
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