Financial problems continue to impact Spanish ports

The European Commission has asked Spain to either return financial grants by June 11 or argue the case at courts in Luxembourg.

Under the spotlight is the cost of the aggregates used to undertake infill work, given that three quarters of the material used had effectively been free of charge, with the construction consortium having to pay just €7.7m in extraction costs.

At Alicante, state tax authorities are to audit the 2013 accounts after the Treasury found €1m of non-declared losses in the 2012 accounts, which meant that the port should have made a loss of €800,000 rather than its declared profit of €200,000. The National Ports Authority had initially questioned the accounts, believing them to not be a fair reflection of that year’s business.

Meanwhile, at Cádiz, the port authority has calculated that it has had to pay €500,000 in financial costs because of the delay in transferring European Union funds for the new container terminal that is under construction. As a result, the port is seeking expensive bridging funding.