Catalonia and Valencia urge Spain to complete the Mediterranean Corridor within a “credible timeframe”

Barcelona (CNA).- The Catalan and Valencian governments have gathered this Monday in a bilateral summit to address the Mediterranean Corridor Railway issue. The delays in the construction of the infrastructure are affecting private investment. According to the Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, Josep Rull, the pending business investments are worth €300 million, among which €20 million corresponds to an investment from the German multinational Basf, which announced it will expand one of its plants in Tarragona, southern Catalonia. Together with social and economic representatives, the politicians demanded from the Spanish Government to finish the infrastructure. Moreover, they asked for the designation of an ‘Independent Technical Coordinator’ to supervise the development of the construction within a “credible timeframe”.

In a document presented after the bilateral summit celebrated at Valencia’s Generalitat Palace, the representatives demanded the realisation of the technical configuration of the Mediterranean Corridor Railway. Besides this, the politicians also demanded the appointment of a Technical Coordinator. Rull recalled that the former Spanish Minister for Transport, Ana Pastor, rejected designating such a figure, alleging that it was not necessary because she was the coordinator.

The summit between the Catalan and the Valencian governments is the first to take place since 2009. The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and the Valencian President, Ximo Puig, agreed to “establish a new framework of relations”, with meetings every semester. Moreover, the politicians announced the convocation of a permanent technical commission in order to monitor the development of the Mediterranean Corridor Railway construction works. 

“Here comes the time of reality. We have to abandon the fantasies of the budgets not executed, the failed promises and the discredited agreements”, Puidgemont stressed. “Here comes the time of execution, reality and trains passing through the corridor”, he stated. “The Spanish state cannot govern whilst turning its back on the Mediterranean”, the Catalan President said.

Catalan Minister attributes TP Ferro failure to the lack of investment

The Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, Josep Rull, attributed last week the failure of TP Ferro, the concessionaire for the new high-speed (HS) railway between Catalonia and France, to lack of investment from the Spanish Ministry for Public Works in the Mediterranean Corridor.

He also reiterated that the Mediterranean Corridor is “a priority” for Catalonia and stressed that the Spanish public train operator Renfe’s freight division has transported 14% less goods this year than in 2015 "despite exports and economic activity growing everywhere, especially in the Mediterranean Corridor".