Rodalies is the best-known infrastructure of the lack of investment in Catalonia. However, there is a deficit in the country beyond trains. In fact, Catalonia needs an investment of almost 53,000 million euros in the next decade destined for infrastructures. This has been determined by the private construction sector through a report promoted by SEOPAN, Asociación de Empresas Constructoras y Concesionarias de Infraestructuras. In the presentation of the colloquium Infraestructuras clave para el desarrollo de Catalunya, which was held this Monday at the auditorium of Foment del Treball, with the participation of the Chamber of Works Contractors of Catalonia, the president of SEOPAN, Julián Núñez, broke down the figures and highlighted the need for large investments in terms of mobility —with Rodalies at the center— and hydraulic infrastructures. Núñez also demanded a review of the regulation and recalled that "the volume of public tender for works concessions in Catalonia has been reduced by 96%".
The investment needs in priority infrastructures in Catalonia represent 52,838 million euros, according to the data presented. This figure is divided into 34,443 M€ in new infrastructures and adaptation of existing ones and 18,395 million euros in the conservation and maintenance of road, rail and hydraulic infrastructures. Specifically, the 34,443 M€ for new works and adaptation represent 21,973 M€ in transport, 9,530 million in hydraulic infrastructures, 2,107 million euros in public health equipment and 823 M€ in the environment. "This is only a minimum amount," specified Núñez, who also highlighted the lack of investment shown by the data in his report: "Catalonia registers the sixth largest investment deficit in bringing the country to zero, with 953 million out of a national total of 13,500 million euros."
Transport and hydraulic infrastructures, at the center
From this breakdown, the report highlights transport infrastructures, which are the highest item for infrastructure creation and adaptation (21,973 M€). The majority, 13,887 million, goes to Rodalies, metro and tram, with actions such as the Rodalies Orbital Line of Barcelona, line R9, railway integration in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and the extension of L3 to Feliu de Llobregat. This includes singular actions such as the Collserola tunnel and improvements in port infrastructures and Catalan airports. Road infrastructures, with an allocation of 2,883 million euros, mainly include motorway closures and bypasses, third lanes on the AP-7 and 2+1 roads. This item is completed by interurban public recharging, ecological and digital transition and safety for vulnerable users.
The other pillar highlighted by Núñez is newly created hydraulic infrastructures, totaling 9,530 million. The majority, 5,446 M€, is allocated to the urban water cycle (sanitation, purification and supply), followed by 1,820 million euros in sustainable drainage, storm tanks and prevention of river floods, and 957 million linked to a National Water Agreement. The rest is distributed among monitoring and digitalization, adaptation to climate change with desalination and reuse, green infrastructure, flood risk prevention and management of the Public Hydraulic Domain. The president of SEOPAN also recalled that the tender for hydraulic infrastructures in the last decade (2,131 M€) only represents 22.3% of the investment needs for the next 10 years.
More public-private collaboration
Beyond denouncing the infrastructure deficit in Catalonia, the report promoted by private entities defends the need to maintain an open dialogue with the public administration. Núñez, although he has celebrated "the good work" that the government of Salvador Illa is doing, has confirmed that "more dialogue is needed" and has also called for an end to the "paralysis" that has been experienced in recent years. According to the same study, "public bidding for works concessions in Catalonia has been reduced by 96%". For his part, Lluís Moreno, president of Cambra de Contractistes d’Obres de Catalunya (CCOC), has asserted that "a sustainable model of public tenders" is needed. In this way, he has demanded more legal certainty for all parties. "Given that investments are high and tenders are limited, more balanced public-private collaboration formulas are needed," the president of the CCOC concluded.