Aena said in a statement that Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, which handles 15 to 25 million passengers a year, has been named the Best European Airport in its category by the Airports Council International (ACI) for the quality of services it provides to its users.

Based on traveler feedback, these awards are a component of the ASQ program. The airport in Alicante has also received recognition for its consistent efforts over the years. It has been inducted into ACI’s roll of honour with the ‘ACI World Director General’s Roll of Excellence’ after achieving this distinction for the fifth time, having done so in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023.

El Hierro Airport is one of just 10 airports worldwide to have been awarded this designation in 2024. Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport “performed a number of actions within its airport quality plan last year in an effort to further improve the travel experience for all its users.”

Aena’s “Oli” chatbot for passenger assistance, the installation of a street art mural on the airfield to greet passengers, the opening of the first Sensory Room for travellers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and the expansion of its duty-free shop with new interactive and digital elements are a few of these.

“Staying ahead”

“In today’s rapidly evolving world where passenger experiences are higher than ever, airports must continually push the boundaries of service to stay ahead,” said ACI World Director General Justin Erbacci, who applauded the airport community at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport.

The award, according to Laura Navarro, director of Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, “encourages us to continue working and also represents support for the Aena team, which has demonstrated its commitment to improving services over the years, and for all the staff and institutions that carry out their work at the airport with great professionalism.”

The annual ACI World Customer Experience Summit and Exhibition, which will be hosted in Guangzhou, China, from September 8th–11th, 2025, will include the awards ceremony.

These four fugitives are wanted for rape, child abuse, and producing pornographic material. In the Netherlands, three of them who were wanted by Spain were taken into custody, while in Alicante, a fourth who was wanted by Dutch police was taken into custody.

The fugitive, who was apprehended in Alicante after being sought by Dutch officials, is accused of sexually abusing two girls, ages 11 and 13, and appearing in graphic recordings with children.

Since the arrested fugitives are wanted for serious sexual offences with alleged underage victims and, in this instance, a tight link between them, they are high-priority targets for the ENFAST Network.

Four sexual offenders who were evading punishment in Alicante and Groningen, the Netherlands, were apprehended concurrently by National Police officers and Dutch police in a coordinated operation. For rape, child abuse, and producing pedophilic content, these four fugitives are wanted. The Netherlands has detained three of them who were wanted by Spain, while Alicante has arrested a fourth who was wanted by Dutch officials. The fugitive, who is wanted by Dutch authorities, is accused of staring in excessively pornographic recordings with kids and sexually abusing two girls, ages 11 and 13.

Four fugitives wanted by Spain and the Netherlands for serious sexual offences involving children were identified, which sparked the inquiry.

The ENFAST Network’s activities showed that the fugitives were intimately tied to one another, and that the Dutch authorities sought one fugitive in Spain, while Spain wanted three others who might be in the Netherlands. The fugitives became high-priority targets for the ENFAST Network due to the heinousness of the crimes they were accused of committing, which included kids and severe violence against them.

While awaiting trial, the Málaga Provincial Court wanted one of the fugitives. For the alleged offences of continuous sexual abuse, sexual assault, and the creation of pornographic material involving kids who were 13 and 15 years old at the time of the occurrence in 2016, he is being pursued for a 34-year jail sentence.

For their 2015 offences, the other two fugitives—brothers who were also sought by the Málaga Provincial Court—were given ten years in prison. They met a young woman at the Málaga Fair, and together they committed the crimes of sexual assault, injury, and threats.

In the town of Zeist, the fourth suspect, who is currently wanted by Dutch authorities, sexually assaulted two girls, ages 11 and 13, whom he had entrusted to his care and custody in 2017. Additionally, he has been involved in recordings that featured highly harsh pedophilic content involving animals and children.

Arrests in the Netherlands and Spain at the same time

It was discovered that the Spanish fugitives were carrying documents in other people’s identities during a security operation that was launched after they were discovered in the Dutch town of Groningen. At the same time, the Dutch fugitive was apprehended in Alicante as he fled the house where he had sought sanctuary.

A 46-year-old Spanish man was detained by the National Police in Benidorm on suspicion of burglary after he stole almost €8,300 from the restaurant cash register where he works. According to police sources, the suspect repeatedly opened the safe using the establishment’s security keys.

When investigators discovered that a sizable quantity of money had vanished from a restaurant’s cash register, the investigation got underway. The now-detained individual had been employed as a waiter at the establishment for six months and was responsible for opening it in the mornings, they found after some investigation.

The company’s smart safe was made to guard against tampering. According to the same sources, only a particular key that belonged to the store manager could be used to manually open it. One of the staff members tried to get a “cash withdrawal at the end of December and detected a discrepancy in the funds.” According to the machine, there was “more money than was actually dispensed.” They said that the irregularity had started in the second half of the month and that a total of €8,329.50 was missing.

The thief “had accessed the cash register 24 times in a period of just 12 days,” according to the results of investigations done to explain the facts. There had been no need for these unapproved accesses. The police sources claim that the cash register keys were in the “same ring as the keys to open the premises, which the detainee had access to every morning.”

Because of this situation, the suspect was able to “manually open the cash register and steal the money without the security systems immediately detecting any irregularity.” The employee ceased showing up for work and vanished from sight a few days after the embezzlement was discovered.

The man was arrested in Benidorm after National Police personnel set up a locating and detention system for him. He acknowledged the facts when he spoke to the police. The 46-year-old Spanish man who was arrested has a history of property violations. He was taken to the Benidorm Judicial Authority following his arrest, which will decide on the proper course of action.

Please remember that any criminal act can be reported to the National Police in person, by phone, or through the official website www.policia.es.