The president of a budget Spanish airline claims Barcelona’s airport is unable to expand as planes are not allowed to fly over Lionel Messi’s house.
Vueling chief Javier Sanchez-Prieto, via Marca, claims the area of Castelldefels where Messi and other Barca stars live, on the outskirts of Barcelona, has an environmental restriction over it.
It’s located just 10km away from the airport, one of the busiest in Europe. Airline bosses were hoping to add more runways in order to allow extra movement in and out of the city.
But Sanchez-Prieto says the proposed expansion can’t happen “because you cannot pass over where Messi lives.” The agitated president added: “This doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.”
Idyllic Castelldefels is just a short 12-mile drive from the iconic Nou Camp and boasts stunning views out into the Med.
It is the exclusive hideaway where Philippe Coutinho also recently bought a house. The stars all live in a small area know as Bellamar.
Ivan Rakitic revealed last year that Messi had bought his neighbour’s house, purely because he “wanted to be alone”.