Air force ‘lift’ announced for flood damaged town
THE UNDERUSED air force academy at Los Alcázares is aiming for a second life thanks to a draft agreement signed last week in Madrid between acting minister for defence Margarita Robles and Los Alcázares mayor Mario Cervera.
According to the draft agreement, the goal is to open the academy to local residents and tourists through guided visits which would be organised by the council.
At the same time some of the abandoned buildings could be turned into cultural facilities such as a music school.
Sra Robles said that the project would help to reinforce the existing bonds between the academy and the local community. The initiative would also help the town to recover from the devastating floods by promoting the academy and its historic buildings as ‘the cradle of the Spanish military seaplane’.
The air force academy at Los Alcázares has been running since 1915 and it was the headquarters of the pioneering air force seaplane academy due to its unique weather and geographical conditions.
The academy played an important role during the Spanish Civil War and it was used until 1939 as training camp for the air force combat pilots.
The facility started to lose importance after the civil war, when training and most air force activities were moved to the academy at San Javier.
On the other hand, San Javier council has launched its own project to turn the town into an emblem of the air force and take advantage of the AGA air force academy and the recently closed passenger facilities of Murcia-San Javier airport.
The town has twinned with the Portuguese town Ponto do Sor to organise a joint international aeronautic fair.
The project has been launched by councillor Rubén Pérez, who is a former air force pilot and member of the Patrulla Águila Spanish aerobatic.
Sr Pérez noted that Porto do Sor houses several aeronautical factories, a pilot training school and an important airport and has many similarities to San Javier.
The town is also waiting for the final decision of the Infante de Orleans foundation which was searching for a new venue to house its collection of historic aircraft.