Catalan economists: infrastructure concerns today more than the fiscal deficit

BarcelonaCatalan economists are currently more concerned about infrastructure than the fiscal deficit, according to the Winter 2026 Economic Situation Survey by the College of Economists of Catalonia. Problems in the operation of Rodalies, the derailment that occurred on line R-1 at the beginning of the year, and the fatal accident on the R-4 have led to a 13-point increase in the proportion of professionals warning about the situation and considering it a priority issue to address. This is the opinion of 45.1% of respondents, above the 44.6% for the fiscal deficit with the State, which until now was the main concern of this professional group and has now moved to second place.

According to the data presented by the Dean of the College, Carles Puig de Travy, and the Technical Director, Xavier Segura, economists give the Rodalies service a failing grade, a very poor one, with a 1.9 out of 10. The fundamental causes are the obsolete rolling stock of the railway network and the lack of investment, according to the majority's interpretation. They attribute responsibility to the Ministry of Transport, Adif, and Renfe, and to a lesser extent, to the Generalitat. The solutions, according to the results, call for increasing investment and maintenance and renewing the network, as indicated by a massive response, and to a lesser extent, accelerating the transfer of management to the Generalitat. In the metropolitan area, 8 out of 10 economists believe that the poor functioning of the service negatively affects the economic and social development of the area.

The majority skepticism of the consulted professionals about the proposal to create a State-Generalitat investment consortium designed to resolve, among other issues, the chronic problems that Rodalies is experiencing, also stands out. 52.3% of respondents believe that this instrument will not contribute to solving the problem, and only 32.4% believe it will be useful.

Division of opinions

Regarding the new regional financing model, there is a division of opinions: 33.7% consider it negative and 30.1% see it positively. Furthermore, 28.5% maintain a neutral position. The most valued aspects are respect for the principle of ordinality, recognition of the territory's uniqueness, and the increase in the transfer of VAT and personal income tax to autonomous communities. With fewer defenders are the recalculation of adjusted population and the elimination of the current advance payment system.

The survey, conducted between February 27 and March 13, notes the reduction in professional optimism and the forecast of a progressive slowdown in the economy due to the impact of the war in the Middle East. "The extent of its repercussions and the effect on other sectors will be proportional to the time it continues," agree most of those surveyed. The optimism of the group falls by more than 10 points, while pessimism increases by more than 8 points compared to the previous survey.

Other issues include the actions taken by the Generalitat to combat the swine fever: 40.7% of those surveyed approve of the measures applied by the Catalan executive. And the Mercosur-European Union (EU) agreement is particularly rejected by economists from the Lleida and Tarragona regions.