The José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace celebrates its silver wedding with a prestigious route that extends from the historic visit to NBA in 2007 to the point of emotion last match Rafa’s professional Nadal.
the heart … sporting and cultural of Malaga fulfills a quarter of a century and commemorates it by exhibiting a huge canvas at the Ciudad de Málaga stadium with a direct message: “More than 10 million of spectators. Thank you!”. This anniversary confirms the place as the great agora of modern Malaga, a setting that knew how to recover from adversity to place the capital of the Costa del Sol at the international elite.
Inaugurated in 1999, this concrete giant was a privileged witness to the evolution transformation of Malaga over the past two and a half decades. What started as a local project is now a reference box capable of hosting major world events.
The memory of Martin Carpena
It is impossible to dissociate the success of the place from the tragedy which gave it its definitive name. Initially named the Sports Palace of the City of Málaga, the history of the pavilion has been marked by the summer of the year 2000. The venue reopened after emergency works on July 14 of the same year.
The final result of the graffiti created by the urban artist Nesui SRC in José María Martín Carpena in the Los Guindos neighborhood
Barely 24 hours later, the terrorist barbarity hit the city: José María Martín Carpena, advisor of the Popular Party was murdered by ETA in front of his family. He was only 37 years old. The Municipal Council, in an act of justice and democratic memorydecided to rename the sports Coliseum with his name the same year. Since then, every Unicaja victory and every cultural ovation resonates under the name of a man who dedicated his life to municipal public service.
From rubble to elite
The road to Excellency It wasn’t easy. The newspaper archives recall that the pavilion had a turbulent beginning. Inaugurated on September 4, 1999, it had to be closed 18 days later due to serious structural defectsincluding the detachment from a roof rack, forcing the basketball team into temporary exile in Ciudad Jardín.
However, city leadership managed to reverse this false start. A decade later, under the mandate of Mayor Francisco de la Torre, a extension In 2010 which increased the capacity of 11,300 spectators current, providing it with the necessary infrastructure to compete with the major European capitals.
Today, Carpena is not only the headquarters of Unicaja Baloncesto, but also a fortress where titles were won and teams of the NBAlike during this historic meeting in 2007 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Historical Milestones Scenario
Martín Carpena has established himself as the epicenter indisputable of basketballafter being designated five times as host of the Copa del Rey and having recently hosted the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League in 2023. This trajectory consolidates it not only as the headquarters of Unicaja, but as reference court for the most demanding competitions of the European calendar.
Its versatility has also allowed it to transform into an authentic cathedral of world tennis. The venue has been transformed to host the final stages of the Davis Cup in 2022, 2023 and 2024. It was precisely during this last edition that the pavilion entered the history of sport as the setting chosen for the last professional match from the legend Rafa Nadal in November 2024, an event that placed Malaga at the center of all attention. international perspectives.
Beyond sport, the pavilion asserts itself as a global spectacle container, demonstrating first-rate acoustics and logistics capable of adapting to all formats. Its installations have witnessed cultural milestones of great magnitude, since the celebration of the ceremony of Goya Prize in 2020 to massive concerts by international stars of the caliber of Shakira or Marc Anthony.
Far from settling into nostalgia for these silver jubilees, Malaga City Council is already working on future of the enclosure. Coinciding with this anniversary, a complete renovation has been planned which aims modernize subsequent installation facing 2027. The planned improvements include the replacement of all stands, the renovation of the parquet flooring and the most modern lighting systems, ensuring that the Martín Carpena remains, for another 25 years, the pride of a city it keeps growing.
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