Spain sells off €1BILLION white elephant airport that no-one wanted to fly from for €100million


A Spanish airport built at a cost of more than €1billion could be all yours for a fraction of the price less than 18 months after it closed when its parent company fell into financial difficulties.

The Cuidad Real Airport could be yours for as little as €100million (£86million) after the judge in charge of its administration ruled that it should be sold off.

But there is a catch.

The new owner of the airport, once designed to cater for Spain's booming economy to serve both city and coast via a high peed rail link, will have to pay off around €529million (£454million) in debt.

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Derelict: Ciudad Real's Airport was supposed to be a symbol of modern Spain, but is now being left to rack and ruin. It is to be sold off for as little as 100million Euros at auction despite costing 1billion Euros to build



Empty: Bridges stand half finished and the control tower looms over a vacant landing strip



Haunting: The terminal, where 5 million passengers should be passing through each year, is eerily empty



Creditors owned cash include Air Nostrum and Air Berlin as well as those whose homes were bought to make way for the transport hub, which has sat empty since it closed in April 2012, just four years after it opened.

More than 70 workers who were made redundant when the terminal closed will have to be paid off along with a €2million bill to the auctioneers.



Projected to take the overflow from Madrid's Barajas airport, some 150 miles to the north, Ciudad Real's flagship transport hub was to be a symbol of modern Spain's affluence.

But sadly it has proved to be one of a number of many white elephants for the nation.

For many months the only flights were those of private jets, reportedly including Prince Harry on his way to a boar hunt on land nearby owned by the Duke of Westminster.

But the last budget airline to operate from its terminals stopped flying in late 2011 and when the final private flights stopped a few months later, the airport shut up shop.



Since then, the 28,000 sq ft terminal lies empty, where 5million passengers should have been waiting to be whisked away each year.

Built in 2008, it opened fully in 2009 at a total private cost of €1.1billion, and was intended to serve both Madrid and the Andaluscian coast, each accessible by train in 50 minutes.

The Socialist regional government spent millions propping up the venue, promoting the project with advertising campaigns and approving a €140million guarantee to keep it afloat.

Contrast: The high speed train, which was supposed to serve the airport, whizzes by as the airport stands redundant



Work to do: The airport is now sitting as a testament to the boom years of Spain



Rubbish: The area around the airport has now becoming a dumping ground for junk



In October 2011, it saw its final commercial flight, by Vueling. The airport remained open for another six months, the staff still being paid to deal with a handful of private arrivals.

It finally closed in April last year, but even though it is now closed to air traffic, maintenance tasks still have to be carried out.

The 4,000 metre runway has to be continually painted with yellow crosses, so pilots flying over the airport will know they cannot land there.

The ghost airport is just one of several to be found across the country. Even worse is Castellon's, where no plane had ever landed or taken off before it was shut down.

Security: Even though the airport is shut, regular maintenance work still has to be carried out



Road to nowhere: The 4,000 metre runway is now closed to all air traffic



Signs: It may say that the airport is under construction, but these eery pictures show it is anything but

