Spain props up soccer amid crushing austerity

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. The government says soccer subsidies are simply part of a policy of supporting sports around the country.