With the aim of going on vacation with their homework done, a meeting between the vice-president of the Generalitat and head of the Department of Digital Policies and Territory, Jordi Puigneró, and the new Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, with the presence of the president of Aena, Maurici Lucena, has allowed unlocking the investment of 1,700 million euros that Aena plans to make to expand the Barcelona Airport. Although the specific solution to be adopted to expand the infrastructure has not been determined, it has been agreed that it will have a "minimal" environmental impact and will allow El Prat to become a hub for intercontinental flights.
In addition, the Govern has obtained from the State the commitment to build high-speed railway stations at the Girona and Reus airports, which allows "drawing a new Catalan airport model" and decongesting the Barcelona Airport, since it places those of Reus and Girona just 30 minutes from the capital. "These two facilities will be able, thanks to the agreement, to combine their current role as proximity airports with that of complementary ones to decongest Barcelona, which will become an international hub," the Govern explained in a statement.
For her part, Minister Sánchez assured after the meeting held this Monday in Madrid that the expansion of El Prat will be done "with all environmental guarantees" and will allow "long-haul operations that improve Catalonia's connectivity with the American and Asian continents." She has also committed to improving the Cercanías network (basically the R3 line) of the municipalities of the Llobregat Delta.
The Generalitat wanted to make it clear that it "will not validate any proposed action by Aena that has not been previously endorsed by the European Commission," which is the one that has to give the green light to any impact on spaces included in the Natura 2000 Network.
This 1.7 billion investment will be included in the so-called Airport Regulation Document (DORA) 2022-2026, which the Council of Ministers will approve before September 30 and which will regulate Aena's airport fees in the coming years based on planned investments. Once DORA is approved, which was the most urgent step, the State will draft a new Master Plan for El Prat Airport, where the specific proposal for expanding the airfield should be presented. The objective is that "any impact on protected environmental areas, especially the Ricarda lagoon, be reduced to a minimum expression," emphasizes the Govern. In this regard, the Generalitat assures that any impact on these protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network will be subject to prior consultation with the European Union, which will have to validate the action.
With the aim of growing to 90 operations per hour, Aena's plan foresees extending runway 07R/25L to the East and building a new satellite terminal between runways that would serve long-haul flights that could operate thanks to the runway extension. Likewise, it is planned to maintain the current segregated runway regime to minimize acoustic impact, meaning the long runway will continue to be used only for landings and the short one for takeoffs.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the construction of high-speed train stations in Girona and Reus will take place during the 2022-2026 period. In the case of Girona Airport, the drafting of the relevant informative study has already begun. Regarding Reus, the ministry assures that it will "immediately" begin the procedures to study the design and location of the station.
Both the employers' association Fomento del Trabajo and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce have issued statements celebrating the institutional agreement that will allow Barcelona Airport to become an intercontinental hub, ensuring minimal impact on the La Ricarda area. On the contrary, social media has been filled with criticism of the agreement, such as that expressed by the environmental platform ZeroPort, which has announced that new protest mobilizations will soon be called under the slogan "If they destroy our territory, we will raise the barricades. They shall not pass." According to this collective, the expansion is "an aggression against the territory, a climate attack, and a precarious economic model."