This Wednesday, July 10, the Cidade Deportiva Afouteza was the setting for the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony of the second phase of the GS360 project, which will now be renamed Celta360. The event marked the beginning of a new chapter in the club’s history: the start of a more innovative and inclusive sports city, aiming to become a global benchmark.
Elite athletes, various officials, sponsors involved in the project, and club staff did not want to miss the event, along with more than 200 enthusiastic Celta fans who attended the presentation of this new phase.
The event began with an introduction by Galician presenter Esther Estévez, who led this very special afternoon, structured into three parts: past, present, and future.
The club’s origins were remembered by Juan de Castro, grandson of Manuel de Castro Handicap. The present was represented by world-class athletes such as Rodrigo Corrales (handball player), Teresa Portela (canoeist), María Araujo (basketball player), and the renowned physical trainer Pepe Casal. They all perfectly embody the values of effort and commitment that Celta360 aims to continue promoting in this new phase. The future was told by Lara, captain of As Celtas, and Damián, player of the first team, both clear examples of how hard work and youth development can open real paths to elite sports—showing how tangible it is to go from the stands to the pitch.
After this segment, Esther gave the floor to Carlos Cao (club’s infrastructure director), Marco Garcés (football director), and Claudio Giráldez (first team coach), to talk about Celta’s competitiveness, its future, and the improvements in facilities and in the professional and personal development of all the players.
“Today we begin this second phase of Celta360 with a mix of excitement, hope, and above all, pride… We are excited and ready to face what this project represents for the club and for Galician sport… Celta360 will strengthen that connection with the community, because now, with this second phase, it will be a place open to all Celta fans and the entire community,” said Marián Mouriño, club president. She also emphasized the significance of this project for the club, reflecting on all the previously mentioned points and highlighting that the creation of the new Cidade Deportiva Afouteza has only been possible thanks to the support of the workers, sponsors, the Comunidad de Montes de Pereiras, the Celta fanbase, and the institutions, who also had their moment. Nidia Arévalo, mayoress of Mos, assured that “between all of us we got them… Thank you for trusting in Mos and in me…. This will be a legacy for our children and for our grandchildren“; something that was revalidated by Alfonso Rueda, president of the Xunta de Galicia, who baptized this project as ”an adventure for everyone…. We are together in the same boat… This is the future of Celta, but also of sport in Galicia…. This transcends soccer… This is just the beginning.
The final touch came from writer Defreds, who shared a moving text, leading into a closing cocktail, where all attendees shared their enthusiasm for the future of the club and the Celta360 project.
Afouteza grows, and with it, the sky-blue dream.
Celta360 envisions the creation of a multifunctional complex that will allow young athletes to complete their development in a high-performance environment. It is an ambitious project with a clear objective: to strengthen Celta’s youth academy, A Canteira, and to position the club as an international benchmark in academic and athletic training.
The complex will include a mini-stadium, five new training pitches for Celta’s youth and cadet teams and As Celtas, a Training Center offering university and vocational programs in health and sports-related fields, a residence for academy and Academys players as well as students, a dining area to serve the complex, and a hotel for visitors, athletes, and participants in academic, cultural, and social events. The infrastructure will culminate in two areas dedicated to sports medicine and sports innovation.
Cidade Deportiva Afouteza will cover multiple strategic areas: research laboratories, culture, leisure, sports tourism, sports medicine, and facilities for practicing a wide range of sports. This is a strong commitment to the benefit of Galician sports, aiming to capitalize on the tremendous work done by federations and sports clubs individually.
For this purpose, the real estate consulting firm CBRE, through its Sports Real Estate division, has provided advice on different lines of action, from the definition of the optimal mix of uses for the project, to the preparation of the business plan and the search for important operators such as Los Sauces, Grupo Metrodora or Telefónica, among others. The project now enters a new stage where CBRE Project Management will be in charge of construction management and cost control in all phases.
