A new found fear of flying must be overcome for a visit to the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia
- Sports Travel Tom
- Apr 7
- 10 min read
Valencia CF are planning to leave the Mestalla soon. You must visit it before they do.
Sunday 30th March, 2025
It's 4:30 AM and I'm at Palma de Mallorca Airport where I've had a few days off. I have a 6 AM flight to Valencia. It's only a 35-minute flight, but I'm nervous as I wait at the gate.
I've experienced this new fear of flying in recent months, to varying degrees. This morning after little sleep (the clocks went forward overnight and my wife-to-be and I were enjoying a good bottle of red until late into the night) I'm feeling very anxious about being up in the air.
It must be done though, I have a date at the Mestalla later today.
Has anyone else experienced a sudden onset of fear of flying as you've got older? I have always loved flying. Rushing through airports, boarding, take-off, cruising, landing - the whole process I have spent a lifetime loving. But suddenly, at 42 years of age, I have developed a fear. It's almost like I don't trust planes anymore. The slightest bit of turbulence, my natural reaction is to grab the armrest for reassurance. A slight wobble on take-off I feel the plane is out of control. On landing I can't help but think the aircraft is going to bounce off the runway. It's highly frustrating for someone who loves nothing more than to travel and to be airborne. It's also strange that, as soon as the moment passes, I relax back into my old self and feel completely fine. It won't stop me flying, but I'd like to be able to enjoy the process again. I used to giggle at the bumps in the air, feel pure joy at the power of take off and be full of excitement gliding down onto the runway of a new destination.
Despite my new fear of flying, I was excited to explore Valencia and visit the Mestalla Stadium, home to Valencia CF in La Liga.
After a much needed coffee at Valencia Airport (yes, we did land safely) I hopped onto the city's Metro system into town. It was 8 AM and I had the day ahead of me before attending the Valencia CF v Mallorca match tonight at 5:30 PM.
The Mestalla is a stadium I have long wanted to visit and so when I bought a ticket from the Club's website for 30 euros, I've been excited ever since. Every time I have seen a picture of it, or watched a match on TV at the Mestalla its charm, personality and character shines through the screen. It is steeped in history, but soon will be history.
Visit the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia
Walk to a Valencia CF football match at the Mastalla Stadium from the city centre
I'm staying at the Hotel El Siglo. It's a city centre location and at just 60 euros for the night, a pretty good price given it's proximity to the Plaza de la Reina. The rooms are nice and bright, with wonderfully powerful showers, and the ground floor bar/bistro (that you have to walk through to get to your room) is a good spot for another morning coffee. Well I am running on less than 3 hours sleep.
Despite it being late March, it is warm. It says 18 degrees celsius on my weather app, but it feels more like 25 in the city heat. The morning coffee I'm enjoying is accompanied by the sounds of the hustle and bustle of tourists roaming around, until a one-man musical act blasts into action with his speaker and a microphone. It's s shock to the system, but the Spanish soundtrack fits the morning rather well.
The Plaza de la Reina, one of the city's most iconic destinations thanks to the Cathedral de Valencia at it's northern edge, is full of restaurants and cafes and a continuous buzz of people. From here you can walk to the Mestalla Stadium in around 20 minutes. The stadium is a mile away, to the south east. Once Valencia CF move to their new stadium, it will be more like a 50-minute walk from the city centre.
I walk along a street named de la Pau heading south east, a vibrant street bordered by elegant Valencian buildings and a sun trap in the mornings and late afternoons. Soon you'll arrive at Porta de la Mar. It's the old sea gate that would open to allow access from the city wall to the road leading to the port of Grao, nowadays, it is the focal point of, umm, a roundabout. Impressive none the less.
Shortly afterwards, you reach Turia Garden, an extraordinary public park that now occupies what was the riverbed of the Turia River and all but cuts the city in half. When water was flowing along its natural routing through the centre of Valencia it would cause awful flooding, none more so than in 1957 when the Great Flood of Valencia occurred. After awful damage and loss of life, it was decided to re-route the river and make a green space out of the former river bed. Today it is known as Turia Garden.
To cross Turia Garden you are not short of options. It did use to be a river after all, so you would expect a bridge or two. There are indeed many bridges that were constructed to cross the former Turia River, but I'm crossing the Flower Bridge (pont de les Flors) which was only inaugurated in 2002 (so has never experienced any water flowing underneath it, which I think is a little sad for a bridge) and leads you directly to the Mestalla. The bridge is famous for always being in full bloom with the flowers that adorn the crossing being changed at least four times a year to keep it full of colour.
What to do outside the Mestalla Stadium before a Valencia CF match
Once you have crossed the Turia Garden, you will walk along Carrer del General Gil Dolz, it's here you will be able to see the Mastalla approaching at the end of the road. Soon, it's right on top of you.
It's a stunning sight.
For a first time visitor it's atmospheric, historic and iconic attributes immediately welcome you, almost as though the stadium is saying, "What took you so long? Right, settle in and grab a beer. This is what we do here." There's a tremendous sense of being welcomed at the Mestalla, even if you aren't a week in week out fan.
With the bright blue mid-afternoon skies, the dashes of orange on the stadium structure and the flag and scarf stalls, it's a feast for you eyes.
Most of the crowds are congregated around the Main 'Mestalla' Stand, the one stand at the Mestalla that has a roof, and there is a carnival atmosphere. At the rear of the stand, facing the Avenue de Suecia, are long balconies the width of the stand for each level. The undersides of each are orange in colour and glisten in sunshine. As is the 'Mestalla' sign high up overlooking the hoards of fans eager to experience what is to come.
The Bar Ciudad Real, Aficio Bar and El Palco Bar are all spilling out onto the street but service is quick and efficient. You'll get a beer for anything from 2.5 euros to 3 euros.
But it's not just a pint in the sunshine and the buzz of a football match approaching that is the only entertainment. An orchestra located on one of the Mestalla Stand's balconies springs into action and steels the show. You can't help but look up and enjoy this unique pre-match routine. What follows is the Valencia CF team bus arriving to great cheers and scarf waving only for the cheers to turn to boos as the away team, in this instance, Mallorca, arrive in their bus. The scarfs continue to wave, this time in a more hostile way.
At this point, I have to give credit to Mallorca fans. Many of them were on my 6:30 AM flight, no doubt wondering what on earth I was so scared about, and I couldn't help think about the distances they have to travel to follow their team through a season. Essentially, every away game means a flight. In my current flying phobia state, I'd have to be an armchair fan.
Once the team busses have vacated the area and road is clear once again, the orchestra reappear but this time, with the fans as they parade along the street in full voice. Wonderful.
It would be tempting to stay for another beer and continue to enjoy the party atmosphere a little longer but I have been pre-warned that the steps at the Mestalla are steep. And I am seated in the upper tier. The task in front of me becomes clear as I enter Entrance N5 in the stadium's north stand.
What is a match day at the Mestalla like?
First up, a never ending staircase winding its way up to the upper tier's outer concourse. Its a good 5 minute climb before you reach the concourse. Once safely at the stadium's summit, you'll find a couple of food and beverage kiosks and the female toilets. For the men, you have to go back down the stairs a few floors, *sighs.
The moment you walk into the Mestalla itself is very special. No frills, no modern facilities, not even a roof on three of the four stands, but here we are at one of the world's most special stadiums and it doesn't need fancy wrap-around screens or retractable roofs to be special. It is perfect just the way it is. As I look out in front of me, the pitch is bright green, the sun is shining bright, the sky is blue. They are the colours that set the scene, but the Mestalla takes front and centre. The Mestalla Stand's roof covers those taking their seats in shade, for the rest of us, we are basked in Mediterranean sunshine. At this moment, as I scan the structure, I can't believe the capacity is less than 50,000. It looks a lot bigger.
As I look behind me, all I can see is more steps, this time even steeper, awaiting me.
I finally arrive at my seat, and I'm filled with joy. I'm surrounded by excited fans and visitors alike. Smiles on all their faces. This a great experience for visitors wanting to soak up the Mestalla. There are families here during a holiday to Valencia - the kids in ore at what they are seeing, there are groups of friends and there are fans that come every week. The atmosphere is building.
This was an important match for Valencia, they are currently in a relegation battle whilst Mallorca are riding high in La Liga. Valencia desperately need a win and you could feel the anticipation in the ground.
I listen to fans as they enter, easy to spot the ones visiting for the first time. "Wow" is a common phrase, "this is a beauty of a stadium" I hear a few other British guys say as they appear from the outer concourse.
The match begins and everyone watches on. Spanish football fans do less of the communal singing of Club and player songs like you would get in English football, but there is a general buzz. The Mallorcan fans to my left are in high spirits, whilst the Valencia fans congratulate their team in good spells and encourage them when they need a lift.
The beating down of the sun and no shade to be seen anywhere in the North Stand reminds me to add "must bring a cap, wear sun lotion and sunglasses would be handy" into my notes of the day.
At half-time, the orchestra reappears, this time on the pitch doing a lap of the stadium. Whilst for many, it's time to get refreshments, or take a break from the sun, it's impossible not to sit back from my vantage point and soak it all up. What a marvellous way to spend an evening in Valencia.
In the second half Valencia eventually score and the Mestalla comes alive. A roar of excitement, and each and every one now waving their scarfs. In this heat, the scarfs are simply used as a tool to express happiness, not a piece of clothing.
After a chorus of whistles for a sustained five minutes urging the referee to blow his full-time whistle, Valencia eventually secure the win, and it's an important win to move them up the league a little. But the Mestalla isn't finished with it's own show just yet. With a 5:30 PM kick-off, the sun at full-time has lowered and provided us with a quite brilliant sunset. The sky is orange in the background. In the foreground, the stadium's orange seating interior breaks through as 48,000 fans exit. It's an extraordinary sight and one I'm not quite sure will be replicated at the Nou Mestalla.
When Valencia leave the Mestalla and begin life at the Nou Mestalla, it's going to be a shame
Be under no doubt, when watching a football match at the Mestalla, you are a part of history. It's going to be a shame when the team leave for their new stadium, which is expected to be in 2027 after years of delays.
The Nou Mestalla has been planned for many years. Construction first began in 2007 but because of the financial crisis of 2009 work stopped, leaving just the concrete shell. Only in recent months has the project got underway again and the Club are planning to move to the Nou Mestalla in time for the 2027-28 season.
On a visit to the site, I was immediately saddened by its location. Surrounded by a busy road, and with little in the way of bars and cafes around the stadium it all felt a little soulless. It takes time of course for a new stadium to bed in and its hard to judge a construction site, but on location alone, I feel sad.
The new stadium is projected to have a capacity of 70,000 and be fully covered, unlike the current Mestalla. FCC Construcción are the company managing the build, they are known for redeveloping the Santiago Bernabeu, in which. I have to say they did a superb job.
But perhaps what Valencia CF should have gone all out for, was a modernisation of the Mestalla itself. Keep its charm, historic nature and location whilst giving it a modern twist. I walked around the Mestalla and yes, it is tightly packed in with apartments and roads surrounding the stadium, but the Bernabeu was no different and look at what they have achieved.
Perhaps the higher capacity was the factor for moving to a new stadium? But, you can get tickets on the day for most Valencia matches, so is demand really there to fit another 20,000 in at every match?
Valencia fans are against the move, it's not hard to understand why. The Nou Mestalla will no doubt be a fabulous state-of-the-art stadium but I feel as though it will be lacking Valencia's DNA.
For me, add an escalator or two to the current Mestalla and you would be good to go.
For you, just make sure you visit the Mestalla before its too late. You won't regret it.
Right, best get back to the airport. Deep breath.
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