Rush to finish public works
The state government has pressed the accelerator to start or resume infrastructure projects that have been stalled for years before the April election
The list of infrastructure projects pending for years has been reduced in recent weeks as the Spanish development ministry rushes to meet the deadline of the April 28 general election. They are mostly road and rail projects that go back to the last Socialist government or the PP era, when delays were constant. Pedro Sánchez’s government now wants to make up for the lost years in a record time.
AP-7 and A-2 link: The first announcement was restarting the work to link the AP-7 motorway and the A-2 main road, at Castellbisbal. That came in February after the Council of State approved the modification of the project in November, after the work had been left for a decade.
Lilla tunnel: A few days later came the announcement that preliminary work would begin on the Lilla tunnel to connect Valls and Montblanc via the A-27 main road. The project was tendered in 2008 but has been paralysed for years.
Mediterranean Corridor: Also at the end of February it was turn of the final stretch of the Mediterranean Corridor in Catalonia. Adif approved a €64-million tender for a third rail line between Castellbisbal and Martorell, with the work due to begin shortly.
High-speed station at Girona airport: While development minister, José Luis Ábalos, was at Barcelona airport on Friday for the event marking its official change of name to the Aeroport Josep Tarradellas-Barcelona-El Prat, he signed the agreement to study the viability of a high-speed train station at Girona airport.
Vallirana bypass: While there is still no finish date, the Spanish government announced resumption of work on the 1,370-metre long tunnel so that the N-340 main road can bypass the town of Vallirana. Work on the bypass that will run below one of the town’s residential areas first began in 2004.