The Spanish government has denied unequal treatment between Madrid's Barajas airport and Barcelona's El Prat. Some media in Madrid have even published reports that Aena devotes "identical resources" to the security lane controls at both airports: €23.6m in Barcelona and €23.7m in Madrid. But it is enough to check the register of contracts for Aena to discover the trick in the data: the initial allocation for Barajas was for a year, but two years for El Prat. The airport operator spends almost double the amount in the Spanish capital.
With regards El Prat airport, as stated in the contract, in June 2016 Aena awarded the contract for the security lane controls to the company Eulen for a cost of €23.1m (later bid for €23.6m). To this it is necessary to add a further €425,000 that came into effect on 1st July to respond to the summer season. A total €24m for a contract that lasts two years: €12m per year.
As for Barajas, according to the contract, in July 2015 the Spanish airport operator awarded the security inspection of passengers, crew and hand luggage to the company Prosegur for €21.7m (later bid at €22m). The contract, however, was for a year, and it was extended twice, for amounts of €21.7m and €23.7m. To this it is necessary to add a further €2m. A total of €69.4m, and €23.1m per year.
In this way, and for the same service, Aena spends almost twice as much at Barajas airport than at El Prat. However, this proportion does not reflect the passenger traffic at both airports. According to the same data from Aena, the airport of Madrid had 50.4m passengers in 2016 and Barcelona 44.1m. In fact, El Prat registered a growth of the 11.2% compared to 7.7% at Barajas.
The other large airports
At the rest of the five main airports in Spain, the contracts awarded are financially inferior. At Palma airport, the value of the contract was €20.7m for two years (plus an increase of €500,000). At the airport of Màlaga-Costa del Sol, the contract was €18.2m for two years (plus an increase of €600,000). And in the case of Alicante, the joint contract with the airports of La Coruña, Fuerteventura, Jerez de la Frontera and Santander, including increases and exensions, totalled about €16m for 37 months.
The Madrid newspaper, ABC, published an article on Monday stating that "Aena devotes identical resources to the security control lanes at El Prat and Barajas airports". An assertion that, with the Aena contracts to hand, simply doesn't add up.