With a show by Dani Martín on 16 Nov, the Spanish venue – which opened in its current form in 2005 – held its 500th live music event
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Madrid’s WiZink Center celebrates bumper 2017
'Spain’s most important venue' hosted a record 156 events in 2017, with highlights including Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Depeche Mode
By IQ on 12 Jan 2018
WiZink Center hosted 156 events, of which 75 were concerts, in 2017
Bosses at Madrid’s 15,500-capacity WiZink Center have hailed the arena as the “most important venue in Spain”, after it recorded its highest-ever number of events in 2017.
The venue, formerly known as the Community of Madrid Sports Centre (Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid) hosted a record 156 events in 2017, a 15.5% rise on 2016’s 135. In 2015, meanwhile, it was 131, and 121 in 2014.
The sharp increase in 2017 is primarily down to a boom in concerts, explains operator Impulsa Eventos e Instalaciones, with a total of 75, compared to 56 in 2016. Of those shows, 25 were in ‘Ring’ format (5,000-cap.), six in ‘the Box’ (3,000) and two in the newly introduced ‘Ring Plus’ (8,000).
Among the year’s big concerts were Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran in April, Shawn Mendes and Ricky Martin in May, four nights of Joaquin Sabina in June and July, as well as Deep Purple, Jamiroquai, Van Morrison and Depeche Mode.
“Such good numbers have been excellent to confirm,” reads a statement from Impulsa, “and consolidate WiZink Center as the most important venue in Spain, and one of the most important ones in Europe.”
Impulsa expects an event better showing for the arena in 2018: 151 events are already confirmed, with more than 80 concerts, including Metallica, Harry Styles, Arcade Fire, Roger Waters and Kiss.
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