Why does a Malaga town want to put a Spanish air force aerobatic display team jet on one of its roundabouts?

The request for the Patrulla Águila aircraft was approved in the plenary session with the PSOE abstaining and the IU voting against, parties that question both the location and the cost of the initiative

José Rodríguez Cámara

Alhaurín de la Torre

Tuesday, 5 March 2024, 17:50

Alhaurín de la Torre town hall has asked the historical and cultural service of the Spanish air force for an unused fighter plane from the Patrulla Águila (Eagle Patrol) aerobatic team to embellish one of the town’s roundabouts — the one which is at the entrance to the town centre, and closest to the Malaga Airport and the airforce base, from the A-404.

The idea is to "pay tribute to Alhaurín's links with the air base itself, with the airport and with the Spanish armed forces (there is already a statue dedicated to the Legion) in general".

Partido Popular mayor of Alhaurín de la Torre, Joaquín Villanova, explained that the local administration will assume the costs and the councillor for culture and historic-artistic heritage, Manuel López, clarified that it will also be necessary to build up and prepare the roundabout site.

But the idea, apart from Vox, has not gone down well with the opposition parties. The PSOE spokesperson, David Márquez, explained that his party chose to abstain for several reasons; firstly, because of the "danger" that could be generated by placing an aircraft on a roundabout, with high traffic, which could be "an object to be photographed". The Socialists proposed placing the aircraft elsewhere, for example in a park. In the same way, they fear that this gesture with aviation will be linked to the development of the future Airport City, a project that, in the terms proposed by the council, has not convinced the opposition.

"In any case, the initiative is a bit reminiscent of the times of the great roundabouts, those of Fabra [Carlos Fabra, a former PP politician who headed the Castellón regional government and was closely linked to the region’s airport which had a roundabout installed with dramatically-situated military planes] and the Castellón Airport, and other politicians of the same ilk," Márquez said.

The IU councillor, Francisco Javier Caravias, voted against the proposal because he complained of the expense it will mean for the municipal coffers, as preparation work will have to be carried out on the roundabout. The IU councillor added that the proposal has nothing to do with local tradition, given that the place where the plane will go has traditionally sold melons, and because it is "a militaristic gesture".

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