Messi: Why are aeroplanes banned from flying over Barça star's house?
The president of Spanish airline Vueling mentioned the situation in an interview, sparking a debate over whether the Argentinean had special dispensation.
When Vueling president Javier Sánchez-Prieto casually mentioned during an interview that aeroplanes are not allowed to fly over the house of Barcelona star Leo Messi it naturally sparked a social media debate as to the reason why, and whether it was a case of extreme entitlement on the part of the Argentina captain.
Sánchez-Prieto was busy explaining why a plan to expand to Barcelona’s El Prat airport was being held up and casually remarked that the reason was “because aeroplanes aren’t allowed to fly over Leo Messi’s house, which is something that doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.”
The comment swiftly took wing on social media with people seeking to verify Sánchez-Prieto’s statement and discover the reason why planes aren’t allowed to fly over Messi’s house.
Barcelona airport under environmental restrictions
As might have been expected, the answer was rather more straightforward than Messi instructing El Prat not to interrupt his siesta. The Barcelona captain lives in the municipality of Gavà, about 25km outside of Barcelona and inside the Parque Natural del Garraf, an area protected under Spanish environmental legislation and that contains endangered flora and fauna.
Therefore, planes arriving at and leaving El Prat have to make a small detour out into the Mediterranean to bypass the area, which also answers that question for anybody who has flown to Barcelona and wondered why that 180º turn is necessary.