Spain’s embarrassingly-empty Castellon-Costa Azahar airport, unused since it was opened with great ceremony nearly five years ago, will finally get passengers. Ryanair will announce a schedule of flights from U.K. and northern Europe today, according to the Guardian (UK). MORE
The airport has been pictured as a symbol of politicians-gone-wild spending during the now collapsed real-estate boom in Spain; the regional politician who sponsored it (and a 24-meter high statue possibly of himself in front of it) is in jail for tax fraud, and taxpayers are on the hook for the costs. The airport is north of Valencia, which already has an airport, as well as access to airports in Barcelona to the north and Alicante to the south.
The statue “El Hombre Avion” (below) cost about $375,000 itself. (photo: Wikimedia / Sanbec)
