Estadio Ramón de Carranza · Profile

The Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla is the municipal stadium of Cádiz. It belongs to the city council and stands beside Avenida José León de Carranza, in the Loreto area. Cádiz Club de Fútbol has played there since it opened in September 1955. It was called the Estadio Ramón de Carranza until 24 June 2021, when it was renamed Nuevo Mirandilla to comply with Spain’s 2007 historical memory law.

From the Mirandilla ground to the 1955 stadium

The name comes from the Campo de Deportes de Mirandilla, the club’s previous ground, which was damaged in the Cádiz explosion of 1947. Work on the new stadium began in May 1954 and finished in August 1955. It cost 11 million pesetas, and between 150 and 250 workers were employed on the site. The design was by the architects Manuel Muñoz Monasterio and Manuel Fernández Pujol. The pitch measured 106 by 68 metres and was surrounded by a running track of about 400 metres. The stadium was named after Ramón de Carranza, a former mayor of Cádiz and the father of José León de Carranza, who was mayor of the city in 1955.

The opening, in September 1955, drew 15,000 spectators. Before kick-off the Bishop of Cádiz, Tomás Gutiérrez Díez, blessed the ground. FC Barcelona won 4-0 against Cádiz in the opening match. Floodlights arrived in 1957.

The Ramón de Carranza Trophy

The stadium’s opening gave rise to the Ramón de Carranza Trophy, the city’s summer tournament. The idea came from Juan Ramón Cilleruelo, who was Cádiz president in 1955. Vicente del Moral, the city’s festivities officer, took it to mayor José León de Carranza, who approved it. Sevilla FC won the first edition in 1955, beating Atlético Clube de Portugal 2-1. The tournament has always been played at the Cádiz stadium, except for the 50th edition. That one was scheduled for 2004 and was moved to San Fernando because building work had damaged the pitch. In the 2008 edition Cádiz beat Athletic Club 2-0.

The 1984 redevelopment

The first major refurbishment came while Manuel Irigoyen was club president. Ferrovial won the contract for a two-phase project: a roof over the main stand and an expansion of the north end. It cost 400 million pesetas and was paid for with a loan from the Caja de Ahorros de Cádiz. Work started in May 1984 and took four months. A further phase for the south end was also planned but never built. The work added private boxes and radio booths.

The rebuild of 2002 to 2012

On 8 February 2002 the mayor, Teófila Martínez, presented the plans for a second redevelopment, which would end up replacing all four stands. Work on the south end began on 31 March 2003. On 3 August 2005 the first phase, the Preferencia stand and the south end, was officially opened after an investment of €25.25 million. The tower of the Preferencia stand is 30 metres high. The old north end was demolished on 20 November 2006. The video scoreboards were first used on 8 April 2007, in a 1-1 draw between Cádiz and Sporting de Gijón. The new north end opened on 13 August 2008. The work was completed in 2012 with the new main stand, which left the capacity at 20,724.

The Spain national team in Cádiz

On 15 November 2019 the Spain national team played its first official match at the stadium. It was a qualifier for Euro 2020 against Malta, and Spain won 7-0.

The 2021 renaming

To remove Ramón de Carranza’s name, the city council held a public vote open to registered residents. More than 98,000 people were eligible. The first vote was annulled. In the second, Nuevo Mirandilla won with 25.8 per cent of the vote, ahead of Tacita de Plata (17.8 per cent) and Ciudad de Cádiz (15.9 per cent). Gadir, Bahía de Cádiz, Gades, La Laguna and La Pepa were also among the options. The new name took effect on 24 June 2021.

In July 2024 Cádiz CF asked the city council to rename the ground Estadio Carranza. The club and the council argued that without the first name, it no longer referred to the man himself. The Carranza Incumple citizens’ platform, the opposition parties on the council and several democratic memory associations opposed the change. In August 2024 the Spanish government warned the council in a letter that the change would be illegal.