A 30 minute programme in the 'Crossing Continents' series
Spain's White Elephants
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- programme information
Spain is in economic crisis. What can a new, closed airport tell us about what went wrong?
(Programme info)
'The state-of-the-art Aeropuerto Don Quijote in Ciudad Real opened for business at the end of 2008. The vision was to create an air hub in the heart of Spain, and its backers believed it would bring business, jobs and tourists to this underdeveloped region. But just over three years later the airport closed - bankruptcy proceedings are on-going. Now it lies abandoned and empty, the silence broken only by birdsong and the occasional whoosh of a high speed train.
In Crossing Continents, Pascale Harter tells the story of a project with its roots in Spain's building boom-years. Was the airport doomed by the economic crisis, as its supporters claim? Or was it always fanciful to imagine that a region with little industry and tourism could sustain an airport with a capacity for five million passengers a year? And what does the building of the airport tell us about the relationship between local business, politicians and the now defunct local banks - the Cajas?'
So, should the Spanish banks have been speculating?
Was there ever a viable business model?
Was the local population seduced by the promises of jobs and ease of travel?
Who has lost out the most; the private investors or the tax payers?
What will the expropriation of their land mean for the residents and the environment?
Will the Airport ever open again?
More info:
The author of the above on-line news item is also the presenter of 'Spain's White Elephants' and a several notable quotes from the programme appear in the article so it helps to look at both.
Ciudad Real (Spanish pronunciation: [θjuˈðað reˈal]) is a city in Castile–La Mancha,Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles (185 km) to the north. A high capacity airport (Ciudad Real Central Airport) has been built to serve the city, but closed in 2012 for lack of traffic. The beginning of the construction of a new Caesar's PalaceCasino is planned.
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