There are coincidences that are just too good to be true. For example, in May 2019, when I happened to come to Teruel during a rental car tour of Spain. I wasn't aware that my route would go past an aircraft graveyard. So the surprise was great when I saw large tail surfaces shining in the Spanish sun from the highway. The tour was of course interrupted for a detour to the Spanish desert.

The construction of today's Teruel Airport began in 2009 after a military airport had existed in the same location since the Spanish Civil War. The airport opened in 2013 and was intended as a maintenance and storage area for airliners right from the start. Regular flights were not planned and are still not taking place due to the lack of infrastructure. Teruel is now the largest aircraft graveyard in Europe and, with its dry climate, ideal for conservation of aircraft. During my visit in May 2019, several aircraft were already stored here.

Today, at the time of the corona pandemic, the storage space reaches its limits. For example, Lufthansa parked its entire A340-600 fleet here in May 2020 and the first A380s is already in storage as well. For many of the parked aircraft, the pandemic will probably be the end and this will (unfortunately) apply especially to the large four-engined ones.

Visiting the airport was completely unproblematic. I was able to drive directly to the fence and to the terminal and take photos through the fence. Police and security officers were on site, but did not seem to have a problem with spotters.