Exhibition centre proposal “expensive”

PALMA
THE Balearic Minister for Commerce, Industry and Energy, Francesca Vives, said she considers the project for the construction of an exhibition centre in Palma airport (proposed by the previous Balearic Government) “expensive”.

She confirmed that the Balearic Government “will need to take some time to evaluate what sort of exhibition centre we want” before taking a final decision about this infrastructure.

The former leader of the Balearic Government, Jaume Matas, and the former Balearic Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy, Josep Juan Cardona, presented a project in March this year which consisted of six hexagonal pavilions, each of 35'000 square metres, situated in the triangle formed by the two rapid access roads and the airport car park.

This land is the property of AENA (the Spanish Airports Authority), with whom they had reached an agreement. The expected investment was 110 million euros for the two phases of the project, but to this must be added annual payments of 500'000 euros to AENA for the use of the airport's land.

The Balearic Minister for Commerce, Industry and Energy confirmed that the new Balearic Government intends to construct an exhibition centre near the provisional one which is situated in the old Terminal A building.

However, she confirmed that the project proposed by the last Balearic Government would mean a “prohibitively high” cost for an infrastructure which would not be the property of the Balearic Government. Nevertheless, she confirmed that, as the Spanish Prime Minister had announced his willingness to negotiate the joint management of some Spanish airports, Palma among them, this could generate “changes” in the current Balearic Government's opinion of the project put forward by its predecessor.