Spanish 'ghost airport' that cost €1bn to build sells at auction for €10,000

The bid is a fraction of the building cost of the billion euro project

The airport accepted bids as part of a bankruptcy auction this week ( (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images))

A ‘ghost airport’ in Spain which cost €1bn to build has been sold at a bankruptcy auction for €10,000.

Ciudad Real’s La Mancha airport, also known as Don Quixote airport, opened in 2008. It opened to international flights in 2010 but went bankrupt and closed in 2012 after it failed to attract interest from airlines. The site has lain abandoned since.

Spanish news outlet Europa Press reports that this week the airport has invited bids at a bankruptcy auction - but so far they have only received one.

It is reported that a consortium of Chinese investors under the banner of ‘Tzaneen International’ has placed a bid of just €10,000 - a fraction of the 1 billion Euro it cost to build.

An abandoned walkway at the Ciudad Real airport ((Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images))

The bid has not been topped by any other investors, meaning that if no other bids are placed by September, the site will be theirs for the bargain price.

The airport was originally put up for auction with a €100m price tag last year. However, after it failed to attract any interest, it was reduced to €80m and subsequently €40m. Again, no buyers came forward.

The airport has lain abandoned since it closed in 2012 ((Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images))

A consortium of Chinese investors have placed a bid on the abandoned airport ((Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images))

The Chinese consortium told Europa Press that they would plan to make the airport a point of entry for cargo coming into Europe from international markets, especially from China.

The Ciudad Real airport is one of a number of so called ‘ghost airports’ which have lain abandoned in Spain after ambitious construction projects have not been able to withstand the financial crash.