ERC admits having “few expectations” regarding Rajoy’s promises

Barcelona (CNA).- Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, will travel to Catalonia this Tuesday to give the keynote in a conference about the so-called ‘Mediterranean Railway Corridor’ a long-awaited infrastrucutre which is set to facilitate the transport of freight and passengers non-stop from Gibraltar to Central Europe along the Mediterranean coast. “If he expects to buy us off through promises which won’t be kept, he should think twice,” said left wing pro-independence ERC’s spokesman, Sergi Sabrià. Indeed, ERC have confirmed having “few expectations” on Rajoy’s visit and the “important measures regarding infrastructures” Spanish governing People’s Party (PP) promised he would offer. “Everyone gets the credibility they have earned,” added Catalan VP and ERC’s leader, Oriol Junqueras.

“As far as we are concerned and bearing in mind what has been done so far, we have few expectations,” explained Sabrià. However, he admitted that ERC will listen to Rajoy’s offer. “We will listen, as we have always done; but we won’t give up on anything, as we have never done,” he said. ERC warned that no investment in Catalonia could be promised “in exchange” for the referendum, which according to Sabrià is the only solution to “the Catalan problem”. 

“Everyone gets the credibility they have earned,” said Catalan VP Oriol Junqueras and called for concrete decisions rather than promises “which are never specified”. 

The long-awaited Mediterranean Railway Corridor

The so-called Mediterranean Railway Corridor is set to facilitate the transport of freight and passengers non-stop from Gibraltar to Central Europe along the Mediterranean coastline, an investment which, despite being essential not only for the Spanish economy but for the entire European economy as well, has been repeatedly delayed. 

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has insistently called for the Spanish Government to promote this long-awaited piece of infrastructure. He also referred to the report published last May by the European Court of Auditors which stated that the EU “had not been effective in enhancing rail freight transport” and emphasized that both the target for number of freight trains and that for tonnage of goods transported through the cross‑border section between Spain and France “are far from being achieved”. 

“We are in stoppage time and this European warning confirms it,” stated then Puigdemont after meeting with the Strategic Board for the Mediterranean Railway Corridor, which gathered together around 120 people, including representatives from the groups in the Catalan Parliament, trade unions, business associations, chambers of commerce, professional colleges, universities, chartered institutes, and city halls. Puigdemont praised the “consensus” that the construction of the Corridor has amongst the members of the board and also amongst the regional governments involved in the construction, such as those of Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia, the territories through which the Corridor is set to pass.

Jakub Adamowicz, Spokesperson for Transport at the European Commission, considered it “very important” to implement the Mediterranean Railway Corridor and called for cooperation to do so. “We know that implementation of the Mediterranean Railway Corridor is very important and that it requires the cooperation of all levels of administration. If all the actors know what they have to do, then we could see progress,” he stated in an interview with CNA.