Spanish banks bailout

[Campo Steve]

I have just read the article in The Telegraph. Nowhere in the article does it say that ANY airport is being closed.

What it does say is that some will have their operating hours cut back to when flights are expected, rather than fully manning an airport when nothing is due. Makes sense really. Why have a restaurant and shops open when no flight is due for several hours? No different to some UK airports and others around the world. If Prestwick has no flights for a few hours then the shops in the departure area close down.

I wonder how far they will take it. Will it just be the shops and restaurants closing or will the airport be totally closed i.e. emergency services, ATC etc closed thus making them unavailable for diversions etc. An example of partial closure is Tauranga in New Zealand. When there are no flights the shops, restaurants and car hire desks all close but the airfield itself is open for private flights and emergencies.

[katy]

Yes if you want to split hairs the Telegraph does say that now If you check you will see it has changed and been updated yesterday evening I may not have the same opinions as some of you but I don't tell lies!

Back to Bankia, news today says that the bank declared in Feb that they were in profit for 2011 when infact they lost billions...feel free to check it out on google

[olive]

More economy with the truth.

The amount Bankia "needed" has steadily increased over the last week or so.

Today it is a staggering 19 billion more. http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/25/ine ... 01572.html

I wonder who will pay for that?

[Mowser]

The UK government bunged in €47bn to RBS.

[gerryh]

Mowser
Stop confusing us with facts.
This thread is supposed to be about knocking Spain, not the UK.
Cheers
Gerry

[markwilding]

There simply isn't the traffic about, plus nobody wants to fly to some of these out of the way places, certainly the big airlines aren't interested. Hardly scaremongering, just a harsh economic fact, if nobody uses them, they close.
http://tinyurl.com/borkbpw

That's if you look at it from a tourist perspective, However some airports serve communities that are quite a distant from major airports.Some don't have international routes and transport business people not tourists.

If you look at the San Sebastian in the Basque country or even the one mentioned earlier in the thread-Huesca-There is a four hour car journey between those cities and Madrid, The nearest airports to them are Bilbao or Zaragoza at least 75 minutes by car. Add that to the journey time of the flight,then the airport becomes more important than the face value.

Then there's Vitoria which has very little passenger traffic but that because it's main purpose is cargo.

I agree there are a couple which are white elephants, Cuidad Real comes to mind

[frank]

Huesca is dying on it's feet though, it's losing money galore, it's got no commercial flights. In an ideal world it would be lovely to have an airport within a short driving distance, however it's not economically possible. I just returned to B'ham airport, it's a four hour drive for me, but that's no big deal. Spain has more international airports for commercial flights than any other country in Europe, but it hasn't the population, (nor are they big travellers,) to justify it. It's like some of the AVE routes, I read that it would be cheaper to transport the few passengers for free in chauffeur driven Mercedes than run the train. The Spanish themselves can see the problem, as a Barcelona economist says, it is a shining example of Spanish public infrastructure spending gone wild.
http://tinyurl.com/cl93o5m

[El Cid]

Don't worry about it.

According to the latest Merkel plan all these state controlled assets will be privatised (if they can find someone stupid enough to buy them).

The Paradors will also be on the list. The Picasso museum should raise a fair bit.

Sid

[markwilding]

I agree Sid. Too many of the regions own companies that would be better off in the private sector.

[anyroads]

"I agree Sid. Too many of the regions own companies that would be better off in the private sector"

Ah, but the problem there is these would have to be run on a commercial basis. This was tackled in the UK over 30 years ago. It will of course mean less jobs. A bit like getting turkeys to vote for Christmas.

anyroads

[katy]

Don't worry about it.

According to the latest Merkel plan all these state controlled assets will be privatised (if they can find someone stupid enough to buy them).

The Paradors will also be on the list. The Picasso museum should raise a fair bit.

Sid

The paradores need a good shake up. Not sure about the Picasso museum(s) isn't most of the art on loan Suppose they could sell Guernica

Read last week that Alan Sugar tried to buy the Byblos Hotel on Mijas golf course around 4 years ago...been stuck in the courts due to a dispute ever since...so the Hotel remains closed, crazy!

[anyroads]

"Read last week that Alan Sugar tried to buy the Byblos Hotel on Mijas golf course around 4 years ago...been stuck in the courts due to a dispute ever since...so the Hotel remains closed, crazy"

Yes katy, I agree. You could even say crazy golf !. ( well it is a slow Sunday )

anyroads

[fincalospinos]

"Read last week that Alan Sugar tried to buy the Byblos Hotel on Mijas golf course around 4 years ago...been stuck in the courts due to a dispute ever since...so the Hotel remains closed, crazy"

Yes katy, I agree. You could even say crazy golf !. ( well it is a slow Sunday )

anyroads

Sugar did buy Babylos at auction, but as you say, he hasn't been able to open or develop it because of court actions.

[anyroads]

It will be interesting to see what happens to Bankia'a shares when the market opens tomorrow, they are not quite fully state owned yet, and the other banks of course !

anyroads

[gus-lopez]

He didn't buy the hotel , only the spa & a couple of other bits, which are useless without the hotel ! He wants to buy the hotel & the offer was accepted but has ended up in court for a reason I can't remember.

[katy]

I think it's litigation between the banks who foreclosed on the previous owners AIFOS. That Hotel needs some serious refurbishment, it's stuck in 70's and the new toll road is now too close for comfort. Sugar is not as savvy as claimed is he

[rafiki]

Huesca is dying on it's feet though, it's losing money galore, it's got no commercial flights ....... The Spanish themselves can see the problem, as a Barcelona economist says, it is a shining example of Spanish public infrastructure spending gone wild.
http://tinyurl.com/cl93o5m

I just read that article Frank then had a look at the Aena page for Huesca airport. Mind boggling! I had no idea these places existed. The Aena page admits to only 7 passengers in April this year, 36 traffic movements. 20 staff employed + upkeep costs. Madness! The local public works boss thinks a couple or three proposed pilot flying schools will suddenly justify the runways' existence. Some hopes.

[anyroads]

That is why things are going to get even tougher in Spain over the next few years.

Hard decisions will have to be made in situations like this and with the unemployment rate could go higher then the 24% at present.

anyroads

[El Cid]

Don't worry about it.

According to the latest Merkel plan all these state controlled assets will be privatised (if they can find someone stupid enough to buy them).

The Paradors will also be on the list. The Picasso museum should raise a fair bit.

Sid

The paradores need a good shake up. Not sure about the Picasso museum(s) isn't most of the art on loan Suppose they could sell Guernica

They reckon they can raise €30bn from privatisations.

http://www.thecorner.eu/2012/05/spain-p ... bn-e30-bn/

http://www.europapress.es/economia/noti ... 31726.html
Sid

[frank]

Huesca is dying on it's feet though, it's losing money galore, it's got no commercial flights ....... The Spanish themselves can see the problem, as a Barcelona economist says, it is a shining example of Spanish public infrastructure spending gone wild.
http://tinyurl.com/cl93o5m

I just read that article Frank then had a look at the Aena page for Huesca airport. Mind boggling! I had no idea these places existed. The Aena page admits to only 7 passengers in April this year, 36 traffic movements. 20 staff employed + upkeep costs. Madness! The local public works boss thinks a couple or three proposed pilot flying schools will suddenly justify the runways' existence. Some hopes.

Rafiki, I don't live in Spain, but have been visiting for well over 25 years, and I read the Spanish press most days, watch some of the factual TV programmes, so am fairly well up to speed on what is happening there. The problem is most Brits don't, or if they do, prefer to deny it exists. As you say, it's total madness, the list of vanity products is endless, from "ghost airports", to motorways going nowhere, trains with nobody on them, the Arts and Science Park in Valencia, the £44m Niemeyer Centre en Avilés closed, etc. Watch the series "El Follonero" with Jordi Évole, they're all online, watch him expose the huge waste of money in Spain, it's an eye opener.
http://www.lasexta.com/lasextaon/salvados