On February 18, 2013, President Morales of Bolivia announced the nationalisation of the Spanish-owned airport operator company SABSA, which operates the three international airports of Bolivia (Supreme Decree No 1494). The company is accused by President Morales to have made 'an exorbitant profit with a derisory capital input', not respecting its commitment to invest. Abertis, the Spanish company owning SABSA denies those accusations.
The compensation Abertis will get for being expropriated will be decided after an independent audit has taken place.
Spain also protested urging Latin-American governments to respect Spanish investments and threatening that repeated state takeovers of Spanish-owned companies might have negative consequences on diplomatic relations.