The organisation has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office for possible crimes of prevarication and against public heritage. It points out irregularities in the exchange of municipal land for the new stadium.
Ecologists in Action has taken its fight against the expansion project of the Benito Villamarín to the Prosecutor's Office of the Provincial Court of Sevilla. The organisation believes that the Sevilla City Council, through its Urban Planning Management, may have shown favouritism towards Real Betis Balompié to the detriment of municipal public heritage. The complaint, filed this Wednesday, is based on more than two years of monitoring the urban planning file.
According to the statement from Ecologists in Action, the analysis of the administrative documentation, from the advance of the Planning Study in February 2024 to the granting of the construction licence in March 2026, reveals "indications that certain administrative actions could constitute various criminal offences." Among them, alleged crimes of prevarication and against public heritage.
Exchange of municipal land under suspicion
The complaint focuses on two main "irregularities." The first concerns the use of land belonging to the municipal land heritage to facilitate a private operation through an exchange. Ecologists in Action describes the legality of this operation as "highly questionable."
The organisation recalls that part of this land was originally granted exclusively for sports use, and that the transfer document includes a resolutory clause: if they cease to be used for that purpose, they should revert to the City Council. However, the approved project allows for tertiary and commercial uses to be developed on them without following the legal procedure for disaffection or justifying the removal of that limitation.
The second irregularity noted is that the approved exchange contemplates the City Council delivering perfectly identified municipal plots in exchange for a future buildable area integrated into a commercial building that does not yet exist. "This prevents knowing precisely the true economic value of the assets that the city would receive," they claim.
Residents and technicians support the complaint
The complaint has been prepared with the support of various community entities from the stadium's surroundings and technical personnel specialised in urban planning. Ecologists in Action had already filed a contentious-administrative appeal before the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) against the Planning Study and had requested Urban Planning to halt the works, understanding that Betis's licences had expired.
For the residents of the area, the expansion of the Villamarín not only poses an urban planning problem but also a coexistence issue. Traffic, noise, and the loss of public spaces are some of the recurring complaints. Now, with the complaint in the Prosecutor's Office, the project could face a new judicial setback that delays works already underway.
The Prosecutor's Office must now study the indications and decide whether to open criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, the stadium expansion works continue, albeit under the shadow of a possible halt. Real Betis, for its part, has consistently defended the legality of the project and its importance for the city's economic development. But the ball is now in the court of justice.
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