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Yet another new lease of life for the old San Javier Airport?
Is there life in the ol’ gal yet or is this just another plan that will fail to get off the ground?
Since it closed in 2019 to make way for the shiny new Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera – an inauguration which unfortunately coincided with global restrictions on international travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic – many plans have been made for repurposing San Javier Airport, few of which have come to fruition.In 2022, they wanted it to be the new home of the Spanish space agency, something it lost out on to Elche, and then in 2023 they said it would be an endangered species bank for the Mar Menor which would help to rescue thousands of threatened specimens from the saltwater lagoon.
The latest in this long line of schemes comes from the regional government of Murcia, who have put out to public tender a project to house a “satellite technology centre” at the old airport.
This was announced by the President of the Community, Fernando López Miras, on Tuesday October 8, as part of an initiative he is promoting for “dual technologies in defence, security and reconstruction”, known as ‘Caetra’.
“It will make us a leading region in the implementation of highly specialised projects, centred on the use of satellite data,” he assured.
Basically, it would involve turning the 4,080 square metres of the San Javier airport building – which includes both the ground floor of the building known as the ‘Technical Block’ and the plot around it (including covered and uncovered car parks, green areas, leisure areas, water tank infrastructures, exterior lighting, etc.) – into six flexible modules for small- and medium-sized startups in the security and defence satellite technology sector.
The plans include two multi-purpose classrooms for training, holding workshops, and other varied uses; a meeting room; two modules for the location of the centre’s management staff; a multi-purpose room for the internal dining room; two storerooms; a telecommunications and computer resources connection room; toilets; a green and recreational/leisure area; parking areas; video surveillance and alarm and fire prevention systems in the common and private spaces, with detectors/sensors coordinated with the security services of the premises.
Should anyone wish to bid, the initiative has an estimated budget of 654,749 euros. That is, assuming it manages to get off the runway and doesn’t become stuck at the gate.
Image: CARM
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