Anoeta Stadium

Anoeta is a multi-purpose stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex. Currently it is mostly used for football matches and is home to the Real Sociedad. In recent years, it has also been used for occasional Heineken Cup rugby union fixtures by nearby French Basque club Biarritz Olympique. Since the 2009–10 Top 14 season, both Biarritz Olympique and fellow Basque club Aviron Bayonnais took home matches to the Anoeta. The stadium, which holds 42,076, was inaugurated in 1993.

Proposals

In 2004, José Luis Astiazarán, then the president of Real Sociedad, launched a project called Gipuzkoarena. Planned to be completed in 2007, it was intended to increase the stadium's capacity to 42,000, which would include the removal of the athletics track. The project also intended to construct a hotel and shops, among other items. This proposal was soon rejected by the city council and left behind.

Towards the end of 2007, Badiola, as candidate for president of Real Sociedad, proposed that the club buy the stadium. This was also soon rejected by the city council. In 2008, Badiola, already as president, made another two proposals for the stadium, one of them similar to Gipuzkoarena. These proposals were going to be studied by the city council, but after 20 December Badiola was no longer the club's president. Later, the next president, Jokin Aperribay, launched a new attempt to reform the stadium.

Anoeta

Anoeta is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the north of Spain.

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Coordinates: 43°9′44″N 2°4′12″W / 43.16222°N 2.07000°W / 43.16222; -2.07000