The Estadio Insular

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Memory spaces · Year: 1949-2003 · Authors: Fernando Delgado de León

The Estadio Insular used to be a football stadium located in the neighbourhood of Ciudad Jardín. It was inaugurated in 1949, and was home to local football team Unión Deportiva Las Palmas until 2003, the year in which the club moved to the Estadio de Gran Canaria, up in the district of Siete Palmas.

Fernando Delgado was the architect who designed the building, and Alfredo Farray was the builder. The stadium was originally created for the Marino Fútbol Club (one of the teams which would fuse with four others in 1949, to form the UD Las Palmas, the other local teams being CD Gran Canaria, Atlético Club, Real Club Victoria and Arenas Club), hence the ground being firstly called Campo del Marino, although its initial formal name was Estadio Las Palmas.

Following seven months working round the clock, the stadium was inaugurated on 25th December 1944 with a match between a team from Las Palmas and another from El Puerto, with victory going to Las Palmas with a 2-1 scoreline. When first opened, the stadium had a capacity for 8,000 spectators. In 1951 it was extended to hold crowds of 22,000, following the purchase of the stadium by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria government. The pitch measured 105 metres long and 68 wide.

A few months after the Unión Deportiva Las Palmas being formed, the Estadio Insular held the first game for the yellows, on 9th October 1949 with against a team from the port. It also held games for the Spanish football team, the last one being in 1996.

The last official game played by the UD Las Palmas at the Estadio Insular was on 29th June 2003, against Elche CF, a team that had always been a lucky omen for the yellows, as they had twice beaten them on successive promotions, once up to the Second Division in 1996 and then to the First Division in 2000. This last game ended 4-1 to the Canarians. On 24th August that year, they played against the Club Atlético Peñarol de Montevideo, who were on tour, losing out by 1 goal to 3. 

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