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Murcia ordered to pay €143.7 million in latest Corvera Airport court ruling
A Madrid court has lifted a suspension on the payment, saying budget concerns are no reason to delay compensation
The long-running legal battle over Murcia's troubled Corvera Airport has taken another turn, with a Madrid court ordering the regional government to pay €143.7 million, plus interest, to the airport's former concessionaire.
The latest ruling overturns a decision made late last year that temporarily suspended the payment while appeals continued. Judges have now concluded there's no justification for delaying the compensation any longer.
The money is owed to the former airport concessionaire, led by construction giant Sacyr, for investments made before the original contract to build and operate Corvera Airport was cancelled.
The Region of Murcia has confirmed it is continuing to challenge the case and says it has appealed to the Provincial Court in an attempt to avoid making the payment. Officials insist the legal process is still very much ongoing.
The airport, now officially known as Murcia International, eventually opened under Aena's management in 2019 after years of delays, legal disputes and failed agreements. What was originally intended to open in 2012 became one of the Region's most controversial infrastructure projects.
In its latest decision, the Madrid Provincial Court dismissed the regional government's argument that payment should remain on hold because of the potential impact on public finances.
Judges said any budget or cash flow problems were an internal matter for the administration and could not be used as a reason to prevent the bankrupt concessionaire from collecting money the courts had already ruled it was owed.
The court also rejected claims that delaying the payment was necessary to protect the public interest. Instead, it pointed out that the debt arose from administrative decisions for which the public authorities themselves were responsible.
Despite the headline figure, the financial impact is expected to be less severe than it first appears. Because the regional government is the airport company's largest creditor, having previously provided a €180 million guarantee to allow construction to continue, a significant proportion of the money is expected to return to the regional government's coffers through the bankruptcy process.
Exactly how much will ultimately be recovered remains to be determined as the liquidation continues. The regional government has previously argued that, once all the figures are settled, it is actually owed around €61 million.
The latest ruling is just the newest chapter in a legal dispute that has been rumbling on for more than 12 years, and with further appeals still possible, the final bill for the Corvera Airport saga has yet to be settled.
staff.inc.and
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