metropolitan area

The Barcelona Metro will reach El Prat Airport by the first half of 2016, perhaps even earlier, according to forecasts announced on Wednesday by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas. The L9 line connecting Barcelona municipality to El Prat Airport and other cities has been under construction since 2002, and was originally anticipated to open in 2008, but the financial crisis and the state of public finances have delayed its full completion. An initial stretch of the line became operational in 2009, located at the opposite end to the airport. Once fully finished, the underground line will consist of two branches spanning across the Barcelona metropolitan area, making it the longest automatic metro line in Europe. The entire project will represent a total investment of €16 billion, €3 billion of which is for the airport connection. The test phase of the airport stretch will begin this autumn and should be completed by early 2016 or earlier.

The Spanish Transport Ministry and Barcelona’s City Council signed an agreement to unblock the construction work of La Sagrera train station, which was on hold due to the current financial crisis. This project is the main urban planning initiative Barcelona has been trying to develop since the Olympics. It involves building a huge inter-modal station, combining high-speed trains, short- and medium-distance trains, underground trains and buses. In addition, many retail, office and housing buildings would be built on top of the station and nearby. On top of this, a 4.5 kilometre-long park would be created, covering the rail yard and connecting several neighbourhoods that are now separated by the tracks. In early 2013, the project was at risk since the Spanish Government had not guaranteed its funds, despite the fact that construction work started years ago.

After two days of protests making Barcelona El Prat Airport being without cabs for several hours, taxi union representatives and the Metropolitan Taxi Institute – in charge of managing the sector – have agreed to eliminate the shift system and find another way to reduce the number of taxis on the streets. Taxi drivers have stopped all their protests and they will be using the previous system establishing two days of rest per week. The shift system had been implemented to better pair the availability of taxis to the real demand, which has decreased because of the recession. The system had been approved by Barcelona taxi drivers in a binding referendum. However, one week after its implementation, some of them protested stating that it had reduced their turnover.

Taxi drivers have protested against the new car shifts implemented as of last week. The new shift system affects all Barcelona taxis and it has been designed to reduce the number of cars on the streets in order to increase drivers’ profits by reducing the available taxis at a given time. However, some taxi drivers think the new shifts cause their turnover to drop. For this reason they have decided to protest by not serving Barcelona El Prat Airport or Barcelona Sants Station with cabs on Monday afternoon. The Metropolitan Taxi Institute, in charge of managing the sector, has already announced “talks” with taxi union representatives to “evaluate” the new system.

The Catalan Government awarded Acciona’s joint venture the contract to manage Aigües Ter Llobregat (ATLL), the public company supplying drinkable water to an area of 5 million people. Acciona, a Brazilian investment bank, and other companies will pay €300 million in 2012 and €700 million within the next 50 years to run the concession. Privatising ATLL was a measure announced months ago, as part of the Catalan Government’s austerity plan to reduce its deficit in order to meet the imposed deficit targets. According to the press release, Acciona’s joint venture has been awarded the 50 year contract because “it offers a better price for the water” than the rival group of companies lead by the Catalan Agbar.

The HP International Centre of Barcelona will be fostered in order to get “the maximum efficiency and effectiveness […] avoiding the dispersion in different European centres and countries”. The company will focus its image and printing business’ marketing services for the entire Europe, Middle East and Africa in Catalonia.

The previous Left-Wing Catalan Government had set a maximum speed limit of 80 km/h for the highways inside Barcelona’s Metropolitan Area. Less pollution and fewer accidents were the measure’ aims. However now, after some controversy, the current Centre-Right Government changed the measure and today cars are able to circulate at 120 km/h again.

The Catalan Government approved the continued operation of short distance trains in the Barcelona metropolitan area and regional trains within Catalonia by the public Spanish train operator Renfe. Short-distance trains have been a responsibility of the Catalan Government since the 1st of January of 2010. Regional trains will be transferred on the first day of 2011. The train service ownership will thus change, but the service provider will continue being Renfe.

A collaborative study has shown great possibilities for economic development along the B-30 highway outside of Barcelona, in the area of Vallès. Researchers see collaboration between universities and businesses as an “essential” part of this process.

The Catalan Government has declared the Collserola hills as a Natural Park. The old project has experienced several delays, but today it got the green light. The mountains will now have special protection and further construction will go through strict controls.

The current line that links the city with Barcelona and functions like a metro will have 4.4 new kilometres. It will improve the mobility within Barcelona metropolitan area. The 400 million euro operation will also include the construction of 4 new train stations.