Marc Herman writes that cities in Spain used the housing bubble as a way to finance major infrastructure projects that now, after the real estate crash, they really can't afford.
Herman says that while the crisis in the U.S. has primarily impacted homeowners, city governments are feeling the hit the worst in Spain. Herman digs into the case of the unfinished Castellon Airport:
"Castellon Airport has become one of the better-known examples of Spain's so-called "white elephant" problem. Across the country, local governments in the European nation of 44 million are saddled with thousands of publicly funded construction projects made in the starrier moments of a mid-2000s property boom."
Herman asks if the boom was just exuberance, or if there is corruption underlying the problem.
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