The Spanish Government rules out transferring airport management to the Basque Country

The Basque Government will propose at its meeting on 1 October in Madrid its intention to participate in the management of Loiu, Foronda and Hondarribia, but the Spanish Government, as confirmed by the Basque Daily, will only open the door for the transferto be rejected and the Basque Country to have an opinion on investments, airport plans or connectivity.

The Governance Counsellor, Maria Ubarretxena, announced on Monday on Radio Euskadi that the next airportmanagement package would be  in the transfer negotiations, although she acknowledged the difficulties it creates. Among the Basque demands are to be abletodecide on the  slots and investments and to participate in the shareholders of the airfields.

However, the Spanish Government stresses that the airports of interest, the three of the ACV, are the exclusive competence of the State. Furthermore, it recalls that Aena, the airport manager, has 49% private capital, which makes it difficult to transfer it entirely to the Basque Country.

The agreement reached in July between Pedro Sánchez and Imanol Pradales, which is the basis for next week's meeting, provided that there would be no transfers, but that the Basque Government could consider its participation in strategic decisions.

Next Wednesday the first Subcommittee on Airports will be held in Madrid, which Ubarretxena will attend on behalf of theBasque Government and which will try to move towards a shared management formula  within the timetable which aims to complete the outstanding transfers before the end of the year.