Príncipe de Asturias as a budget carrier model

What is the value of the late Spanish Príncipe de Asturias?

It is a capable small carrier model for Harrier-sized aircraft and helicopters when a navy needs aviation without a full-sized carrier budget.

Príncipe de Asturias was a compact, capable design focused on operating aircraft rather than carrying the wider capabilities of an Invincible-class vessel. Its resemblance to the American sea-control-ship concept comes from stripping away functions that were not essential to a small air group. The ship could operate Harriers and helicopters on a budget that would not support a large fleet carrier, although the same scale would not comfortably support the heavier F-35. Thailand's Chakri Naruebet emerged from the same design lineage and reached a very similar answer for limited fixed-wing and helicopter aviation. Its later use as a royal yacht also shows how a small carrier's peacetime role can diverge from its original aviation concept. Together the ships illustrate what navies can buy when they value an aviation deck more than the full combat system of a large carrier.