Unanimous clamor in favor of the Mediterranean Corridor, which could be finished in 2026

Barcelona has once again been this Thursday the chosen setting for the business sector of the entire Mediterranean arc to demand again the completion of the works of the railway corridor that links the French border with Andalusia. A unanimous voice has been raised to ask for an end "to radial Spain" and businessmen like Juan Roig, president of Mercadona, have considered it "an offense" not to yet have this key infrastructure for the competitiveness of Catalunya, the Valencian Community, Murcia and Andalusia. "I love Madrid very much, but I love Spain more. Not having a Mediterranean Corridor as God intended is an offense to all of us who live in it," he emphasized.

The Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, has once again committed that the corridor will be completed in 2026 and has asked to put an end to "the rhetoric of victimism." Sánchez has promised that, by early 2023, 330 kilometers of the corridor will have been put into service and has asked the 1,500 businessmen present at the meeting for a vote of confidence, also pointing out that "we all have homework." The minister recalled that before the arrival of the current Spanish Government, half of the infrastructure was not planned and that, at this moment, the connection is fully planned and 227 kilometers have been put into service.

Regarding the deadlines, she stressed that the State's commitment is to finish the connection between Almería and the border in 2026, however, she admitted that "the maximum scenario" would be in 2030. "The commitment is to finish the infrastructure in accordance with the deadlines established by the European Commission, and this is in 2030," she expressed. According to the minister, the Ministry of Transport has mobilized 4.4 billion euros for the corridor since 2018," reports ACN.

Sánchez participated in the closing of the claim meeting, which is already the sixth organized by the Valencian Association of Businessmen (AVE) to demand the completion of the works of the Mediterranean corridor. Under the slogan Our country cannot wait any longer, the event received the support of the presidents of Catalunya, Valencian Community and Murcia: Pere Aragonès, Ximo Puig and Fernando López Miras.

The president of AVE, Vicente Boluda, has called for an end "to radial Spain." "We cannot wait any longer, it is true that the corridor is progressing, but neither the accumulated delays nor the pace of the work can lead us to complacency," Boluda declared in his speech at the beginning of the event. The veteran Valencian businessman questioned the fact that Barcelona and Valencia, the second and third cities with the greatest weight in the State, are not connected by high-speed rail and, along the same lines, criticized that the Spanish agri-food sector does not have a railway outlet to Europe with international gauge. "How is that possible?" he insistently asked.

Likewise, the promoter of the event lamented the lack of political will of the last seven presidents of the Spanish government, whom he reproached for the State's railway network remaining radial. "Everything originates or passes through the center of Spain, which seems fine to us, but no advanced country misses the opportunity to connect its territories," he forcefully expressed.

Before the event began, various figures from the political and business world of the cities bordering the Mediterranean also addressed the media. The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, demanded that the State "accelerate" the works of the Mediterranean corridor because "it is essential and, in fact, we are late," said Aragonès. "Until now it was an economic and territorial imperative, now it is also an environmental imperative," stressed the president of the Generalitat. In his opinion, the infrastructure must also serve to "transform the mobility model" and freight transport towards decarbonization. "Every year that we do not have the complete Mediterranean corridor is a year that we lose in greater competitiveness and in the fight against climate change," he snapped.

For his part, the president of the Valencian Community, Ximo Puig, admitted that the current State government "has advanced the works a lot." However, he warned of the need to "accelerate as much as possible." "We are talking about the future of the entire country, not only the communities of the Mediterranean arc. To strangle the growth of the Mediterranean arc is to strangle the growth of Spain, and also of Europe," warned the socialist leader.

In turn, the president of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, strongly criticized "the railway isolation" suffered by his community, and assured that his criticism is directed "at all governments of the last 40 years." "It is time for the Government of Spain to move from words to deeds, and to treat all territories equally," the Popular Party politician has claimed.

In a statement, Foment del Treball criticized the "low level of execution" of the infrastructure and, for this reason, asked to "move from declarations to facts." "Despite having a significant economic and social return, we must demand its implementation year after year," lamented the employers' association led by Josep Sánchez Llibre, who indicated that the GDP of the four autonomous communities affected by the connection represents 44% of the State's GDP.

During the event, several round tables were held with the participation of members of the business world. Among others, the former politician and lawyer Miquel Roca i Junyent, and the director of Barcelona School of Economics, Teresa Garcia-Milà; the CEO of Socialcar, Mar Alarcón; the president of Telefónica España, Emilio Gayo, and the executive vice president of Health in Code, Ángela Pérez, intervened.

In 2018, Barcelona also hosted an event in favor of the Mediterranean corridor organized by Valencian businessmen. On that occasion, it was held at the Palacio de Congresos and the then Minister of Public Works, José Luis Ábalos, assured that in 2021 Algeciras and France would be connected by the Mediterranean coast in a wide standard.