  |
Tomatoes for the new air terminal
|
by PANORAMA reporter
The La Linea municipality wants to make use of what it calls 'the North terminal of the La Linea airport' to export tomatoes and vegetables.
The mayor explained on a Spanish radio station that one of the areas to develop was el Zabal bajo, for the production of tomatoes and vegetables to export them to the UK and other European cities through 'the North terminal of the La Linea airport.'
The mayor continues to insist on the wording of 'North Terminal' and to see Gibraltar's airport as being theirs as well. It could well be that this is how he interprets that the airport is being developed for 'joint use', hence Gibraltar will use it and so will they.
The concept of a second terminal does not feature in the Cordoba agreement on the expanded use of the airport, which may be one reason why the single terminal is being built at such a high cost and scale - but the Chief Minister possibly never expected that tomatoes would also come this way.
The La Linea council is also speaking of an economic plan for La Linea, referring to the 'great sacrifices' that have always come their way as a result of State policy on Gibraltar.
They complain that the already small La Linea municipal area has been reduced even further and speak of loss of income that resulted from the closure of the frontier, which they describe as a 'fence'. Another project that collapsed were the small industries built there to compensate for the problems arising from the frontier closure and the precipitous re-opening of the border without resolving the town's endemic problems.
Thus, they have entered the 21st century without a defined economic base.
All the sacrifices they say they have endured at a collective and individual level as a result of State policy should now see the State helping out its economy.
AIRPORT
Meanwhile, the nearby Jerez airport regard 2009 as a bad year.
This is not a major Spanish airport, yet it is responsible for over a million passengers, as we reported yesterday. Yet, it dwarves the number of passengers at the Gibraltar airport.
While we have started flights to Madrid which have collapsed, such as the Iberia and British airways flights, it so happens that Iberia flies five times a day from Jerez to Madrid, which shows where there is real demand.
Not only that but Ryanair is also said to be on the Madrid route, while Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca are also covered on a daily basis. And there are also flights to other destinations.
It shows how much hard work is required to expand the Gibraltar airport to be able to compare it with even a relatively small operation as Jerez.
|
|
|
|
