VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — At the height of Spain’s crushing economic crisis, the Villarreal soccer club sported an eye-catching logo across its jerseys: Aeroport Castello. The local government paid the club 20 million euros ($27 million) to promote what was to become Spain’s most notorious “ghost airport” — one that hasn’t seen a single flight since it opened in 2011.

The deal illustrates one of the peculiarities of Spain’s meltdown: As austerity measures sap the life from health, education and welfare programs, Spain’s soccer teams have been receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in government aid.