Estadio de La Cartuja

The stadium was raised on the Isla de la Cartuja, the Seville island that takes its name from the Carthusian monastery there, beside the grounds of the 1992 Universal Exposition. Some 57 per cent of the site actually lies in the neighbouring municipality of Santiponce. The design came from the architects Cruz y Ortiz, and the project was also meant to anchor Seville's candidacies for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, neither of which succeeded.

The King and Queen of Spain opened it on 5 May 1999 with an international between Spain and Croatia, won 3-1 by the hosts, with room for 58,932 spectators. From 20 August that year it staged the seventh IAAF World Championships in Athletics, the event it had been built for.

The plan of the Sociedad Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla was that once the athletics championships were over, both of the city's major clubs, Real Betis and Sevilla, would move in and alternate home weeks in the manner of several Italian stadiums - a commitment both had signed on joining the company. Supporters of both clubs made their displeasure plain, and neither took the ground as a permanent home.

Betis did use it in exile in 2007, after the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera was closed following incidents at a Betis-Sevilla Copa del Rey tie; the club's league match against Villarreal was played here on 31 March 2007. Betis took advantage of the fact that most of La Cartuja stands in a different municipality from Seville, playing their matches of exile as close to home as possible.

Two Copa del Rey finals came early - Valencia against Atletico Madrid in 1999, Celta de Vigo against Zaragoza in 2001 - and the 2003 UEFA Cup final, between Celtic of Glasgow and Porto, was played here. The Royal Spanish Tennis Federation chose La Cartuja for the Davis Cup final twice, a temporary roof going up over one side on both occasions to cover the clay court: in December 2004 Spain beat the United States 3-2 for a second title, and in 2011, with capacity reduced to 27,700, Spain beat Argentina for a fifth.

No events were held from 2019 into 2020 because of the state of the roof, which was then repaired. On 5 February 2020 the Royal Spanish Football Federation named the ground host of four Copa del Rey finals from 2021 to 2024. On 23 April 2021 it replaced San Mames in Bilbao as a UEFA Euro 2020 venue, Bilbao being unable to fulfil its hosting duties because of the COVID-19 pandemic; four matches were played here, three in Group E and one in the last sixteen, before restricted crowds.

Luis Miguel played the new stadium on 9 October 1999 before 35,000 people. Madonna drew 47,712 on 16 September 2008, and U2 sold it out on 30 September 2010 with 76,159 in the bowl. AC/DC played on 10 May 2016 and returned in 2024. On 11 June 2022 Manuel Carrasco closed his La Cruz del Mapa tour before 74,345, the largest audience recorded for a concert by a Spanish artist. On 23 June 2024 the Seville group SFDK marked their thirtieth anniversary here before more than 60,000, the first band from the city to draw such a crowd here.

The stadium is run by the Sociedad Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla S.A., in which the Junta de Andalucia holds 40 per cent, the Spanish state 25, Seville city council 19 and the provincial council 13, with the remaining 3 per cent split between Betis and Sevilla. In July 2024 it was entered in the candidacy book the Royal Spanish Football Federation submitted for the 2030 World Cup, to be shared with Portugal and Morocco.

A rebuild across 2024 and 2025 removed the athletics track and lifted capacity past 70,000 - Spanish accounts give 71,374 - and the ground was re-inaugurated on 26 April 2025 for that year's Copa del Rey final. Access improvements and a glass roof are to follow by around 2028. Since August 2025 Real Betis have been playing home matches here while the Estadio Benito Villamarin is remodelled.