The Madrid Conference Centre is back on the market through a public works concession. The Ministry of Industry and Tourism, through Turespaña, has published the tender for the refurbishment, adaptation and operation of the venue located on Paseo de la Castellana on the Public Sector Procurement Platform, with an estimated budget of €105.7 million, according to the documentation in the file.
The tender gives continuity to the authorisation approved by the Council of Ministers last May and formally activates the procedure for the comprehensive restoration of the conference complex, which has been closed since 2012.
The contract includes the drafting of the execution project, the refurbishment and modernisation of buildings A and C, and the subsequent operation of the Conference Centre and its car park. The concession will last for 40 years, during which time the successful bidder will take over the management of the asset and pay an annual fee to the Administration.
According to the specifications, the planned schedule allows for a maximum of 12 months for the drafting of the project and up to 36 months for the execution of the works, after which the operating phase will begin. The chosen model transfers the financing, execution and maintenance of the asset to the private concessionaire, without direct investment by the State during the construction phase.
The tender is part of the Government's strategy to reactivate underused public assets through concession formulas and recover infrastructure considered strategic for congress and event activity in Madrid. This action is in addition to the ongoing refurbishment of building B of the complex, which will house the future permanent headquarters of UN Tourism.
The Madrid Conference Centre, inaugurated in 1970, is one of the capital's main publicly owned conference assets, both in terms of its size and location, and its reopening has been one of the most important pending projects in the field of urban and tertiary facilities for many years.