A drone sighting closes a popular Spanish airport for 2 hours

The sighting of a drone closed the airspace of a Spanish airport in a major tourist centre for two hours Monday night, officials said Tuesday.

Since late September, mysterious drone overflights have caused closures and disruptions at airports across the European Union, including Munich, one of Germany's largest airports, and four in Denmark.

The flying drone was discovered near Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport, according to AENA, the company that manages Spanish airports.


Ten flights bound for Alicante, which is about 420 kilometers southeast of Madrid, were diverted to cities including Valencia, Barcelona, Mallorca and Murcia, it added. Some flights were delayed, but there were no cancellations.

It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the incident, and authorities are investigating.

The airport broke its monthly passenger record in September with more than 1.9 million visitors, mostly from the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.