Madeira Island decided to thank its most famous athlete, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, for the victory in this year's European Football Championship. The famous Portuguese, born on this island, already watched as a museum and a sculpture of the athlete were opened in his honor. However, this time Madeira's president, Miguel Albuquerque, really surprised the football star - he announced that Madeira Airport would be named after Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo, born in Funchal, is already planning to transfer part of his business to Madeira - one of the five future hotels in his network will be located here, called "Hotel Pestana CR7".
In this year's European Football Championship in France, Portugal, led by captain 30-year-old C. Ronaldo, won the championship title for the first time in history. During the final, the famous Portuguese suffered an injury that will prevent him from playing for a month.
"Thank you, Madeira," wrote Cristiano Ronaldo immediately on social media and took a selfie in his personal jet.
Madeira Airport, also known as Funchal or "Santa Catarina", was previously famous for its very short runway, causing even experienced pilots of large aircraft to sweat while landing.
The runway, only 1400 meters long, led to a plane crash in 1977, so it was immediately extended by an additional 400 meters.
However, in 2003, engineers came up with the idea to double its length, extending the runway over the Atlantic Ocean.
Thanks Madeira pic.twitter.com/MMuXLQsHan
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) July 23, 2016
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