March 2027. This is the first formal timeline for the start of the redevelopment of Cagliari's new stadium. The date emerges from the city council resolution of August 19th, which temporarily extended the Sunday street vendors' market in the "Cuore" parking lot in Sant'Elia. In the resolution, the administration recalls the new timetable outlined by the Public Works Department in a memo dated August 6th, 2026, and indicates March 2027 as the month for construction work to begin on the areas pertaining to the large sports facilities (stadium), which also includes the "Cuore" parking lot.
The document mentions a planned start of activities in March, not a definitive contractual date for the construction site's completion. However, it is an official timeline: the Municipality stipulates in writing that, once work begins, the area must be "immediately available to the contractor."
And the market? It's temporarily awaiting relocation. The Municipality notes that its move to another location had already been planned for 2023. To date, however, a new location has not yet been chosen. The Sunday market in the Via Vespucci area, heir to the tradition of Viale Trento and, even before that, the Bastione di Saint Remy, was established in 2020 as an experimental solution . After initial decisions were made during the pandemic, the location in the "Cuore" parking lot was confirmed, and the activity has continued over time through subsequent extensions. Now, however, the area's fate is sealed by the new stadium project.
"The market requires 1.8 kilometers of paved road," explains Marco Medda, president of Confesercenti Cagliari . "A solution could even be found in the Sant'Elia area itself, depending on the stadium construction schedule. But to enable the market to make a significant leap in quality, clear protocols are needed: one for waste management, one for professionals, and one for the regulation of illegal vendors and subsistence traders. It's the only way to make it a tourist attraction." Meanwhile, the city council has chosen not to close the market. A sudden closure, the resolution states, could encourage a new explosion in illegal trading and the emergence of unauthorized sales spaces.
