San Mamés

Architect César Azkárate of ACXT-IDOM presented plans in March 2007 for a three-tiered, 56,000-seat stadium, drawing influence from Germany's 2006 World Cup venues, particularly Munich and Hamburg. Athletic Club had considered other sites, including a proposal by Norman Foster for a 55,000-seat stadium in nearby Abandoibarra, before settling on building the new stadium directly beside the century-old original, on the site of the former Bilbao International Trade Fair.

That decision made for an unusually complicated construction process: work began in 2009 and proceeded in two carefully sequenced phases specifically so Athletic never had to play a single match away from Bilbao, with the old San Mamés gradually demolished as the new stadium rose around it, three-quarters complete before the first matches were played there.

The result is a rectangular bowl with soft, curved corners, its exterior distinguished by a facade of ETFE modular panels equipped with LED lighting that from a distance appears composed of triangles, illuminated at night as one of Bilbao's recognisable landmarks along the Nervión River, a very different approach from RCDE Stadium's glass-curtain facade in Barcelona.

San Mamés Barria, the company formed in 2007 to build the stadium, brought together Athletic Club, savings bank BBK and the Biscay Provincial Council. The financial crisis of 2008 forced a redesign partway through planning, trimming the original 56,000-seat, glass-fronted concept down to roughly 53,000 seats before a symbolic groundbreaking on 26 May 2010, attended by the Basque Lehendakari Patxi López and marked by a human chain of former players carrying a piece of turf and a brick from the old stadium's facade to the new site.

Engineer IDOM's structural solution rests on roughly 80 concrete portal frames spaced around the perimeter, supporting a roof with cantilevers reaching up to 50 metres over the stands. Much of the stadium's scale is invisible from street level: three basement storeys beneath the bowl house a municipal sports complex, opened in 2019, with an Olympic pool, spa and an indoor athletics module, tucked entirely beneath the seating rather than added as a separate building.

Athletic Club's Basque-only cantera policy shapes an unusually local matchday identity: nearly every player on the pitch was born or trained in the Basque Country, and the connection between fans and squad runs deeper than at almost any other major European club. A 4,000-capacity official singing section, introduced in the Tribuna Norte end in 2019 and expanded in 2022, leads chants throughout the match, and San Mamés carries real political weight too: in 1976, during Spain's fascist dictatorship, the Basque flag was openly displayed for the first time in decades, held aloft by the Athletic and Real Sociedad captains ahead of a Basque derby at the old stadium.

The club has permanently banned an unofficial radical faction from the ground following a 2018 inclusion on Spain's official list of violent and radical supporter groups, and matchday security remains a live topic given occasional clashes with visiting ultras from other European clubs. In November 2025, over 50,000 fans filled San Mamés for a Basque Country friendly against Palestine held in support of peace in Gaza, one of the ground's most striking recent political moments.

At 53,331 seats, San Mamés comfortably clears FIFA's requirements for group-stage and knockout matches. Together with Reale Arena in nearby San Sebastián, it gives the Basque Country two 2030 World Cup venues within an hour of each other by road, a genuine cluster for fans wanting to combine matches with the region's renowned food culture.

Bilbao's hosting role isn't entirely settled: city officials have publicly pushed back on some of FIFA's requirements, including a proposal for free public transport for ticket holders, and are weighing further investment in premium seating and hospitality areas. Basque institutions have floated a joint Bilbao-San Sebastián bid using both San Mamés and Anoeta, though Mayor Juan Mari Aburto has stressed Bilbao is not withdrawing its own candidacy regardless of how FIFA responds. At 53,331 seats, San Mamés sits in a similar bracket to Portugal's Estádio do Dragão in Porto, both solid mid-to-large venues rather than final contenders.