Institutional agreement to develop the intermodal logistics terminal of the Port of Barcelona

The Port of Barcelona, the Generalitat, and the city councils of Barcelona and El Prat de Llobregat have reached an agreement on the Urban Master Plan (PDU) for the future intermodal logistics terminal of the Port of Barcelona, one of the nodes of the Mediterranean Corridor. The sum of this new infrastructure with the new land accesses and the ten railway sidings of the Barcelona-Zaragoza axis will allow increasing the number of containers entering and leaving the maritime infrastructure by train.

The infrastructures planned in the PDU will form a railway node composed of six terminals, two of which are already operational. Specifically, a piggyback terminal; a reception and dispatch terminal; another loading and unloading terminal ---located in the old bed of the Llobregat river---, and a reception and dispatch terminal ---parallel to the current course of the river--- will be added. This node will serve the Port of Barcelona and its surroundings: the Zona Franca, the Polígono Pratenc, and the industries located in Baix Llobregat and the south of Barcelona.

The scope of action of this PDU is 68.8 hectares and will involve the creation of 20.8 hectares of green areas and the Llobregat Agricultural Park-Montjuïc Park Green Corridor, a network of green routes that will connect the different logistics-port areas and natural spaces. The Port of Barcelona will invest a total of 15 million in expropriations and redevelopments of the area. When the new railway node is completed, the space occupied by the Morrot station can be freed up, connecting the maritime infrastructure with the Marina del Prat Vermell and decongesting the Montjuïc area.

After two years of negotiations between the four administrations, the agreement presented this Tuesday is a preliminary step to its drafting, processing, and definitive approval. The event was attended by the president of the Port of Barcelona, Damià Calvet; the second deputy mayor, Janet Sanz; the mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler, and the general director of Territorial Planning and Urbanism of the Generalitat, Agustí Serra.

The presentation this Tuesday coincides with the start of the citizen participation process, which will have a three-month period. Once citizen and local entity contributions have been incorporated and environmental processing completed, the initial approval of the PDU and the opening of the public information process are expected. The amendments collected from citizens, city councils, and associations during this public information will help to finalize the document, which will receive definitive approval from the Comissió de Territori de Catalunya, presumably, in the first quarter of 2023.