The business world is satisfied with the agreement to expand El Prat

BarcelonaThe Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and seven other Catalan business organizations have rated "very positively" theAgreement between the Generalitat (Catalan government), the Spanish government, and the state airport operator Aena to expand El Prat Airport.In a joint statement, the Chamber, the employers' association Pimec, Fira de Barcelona, ​​​​the Royal Automobile Club of Catalonia (RACC), the College of Economists of Catalonia, and the business organizations FemCat, Barcelona Global, and the Círculo de Economía have positively assessed "the project announced by the Catalan government and consider it necessary and strategic to improve intercontinental competitiveness."

The statement also highlights "the technical and environmental advances presented." "It is a very important first step" to improve the capacity of a "critical infrastructure" for Catalonia, said Miquel Martí, third vice president of the Barcelona Chamber, in a press conference. "It is a proposal that should excite us for the future. We will have a competitive territory," commented Martí, who assured that the Chamber will evaluate the technical document agreed upon by the administrations "in the coming weeks."

The president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, presented the main features of the three-way agreement on Tuesday, which includes an investment of 3.2 billion euros to carry out a "comprehensive remodeling"—in the president's words—of the entire infrastructure. Furthermore, Illa assured that the agreement with Aena (Spanish National Agency for the Renewal of Agriculture) and the Spanish government will include the creation of 250 hectares of renaturalized land dedicated to agriculture, and will ensure that the expansion has a "minimal impact" on Ricarda and Remolar, both areas protected by European legislation that would be affected.

Precisely the impact on these two areas of the Llobregat Delta has been one of the greatest points of contention between the parties in favor of the project—PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Junts (Junts), PP (People's Party), and Vox (Vox)—and those opposed to it—Comunes (Commons), CUP (Cup), and, to a lesser extent, ERC (Erc)—, in addition to being one of the main contentions of environmental organizations. In fact, a commission of experts from Barcelona City Council has already had recommended going ahead with the expansion without touching the protected areas.

With the previous expansion of El Prat in 2004—when Terminal 1 was built—the public authorities and Aena committed to compensating for the impact on the natural areas of Baix Llobregat with more protected land, but ultimately these compensations were never implemented, despite warnings from Brussels. When asked what guarantees the authorities are now providing to ensure that environmental compensations will indeed become a reality, Martí stated that "the commitments to the European Commission will undoubtedly be fulfilled."

"Without this, we couldn't move forward. Today, we shouldn't have any doubts about environmental protection," he added. In this regard, he welcomed the fact that the agreement includes "creating an environmental fund and a green link around the airport."

"Networking" airports

Martí said that the expansion of El Prat will allow us to "address" changes in mobility in Barcelona and throughout Catalonia. According to the vice president of the chamber, El Prat "will need strong rail connections with the city of Barcelona, ​​the other three airports, and in the future, with high-speed rail."

"We have airports that must operate as a network," said Ignasi Sayol, president of Pimec Logística-Catalan Logistics Cluster. "It's not possible for all the negative externalities to go to the Barcelona area; we need this comprehensive management" of the entire infrastructure. In this sense, the business entities highlighted in the joint statement "the need to guarantee shared governance and a global vision for the entire Catalan airport system."

In fact, Sayol has gone further and called for better connections between the airport and the Port of Barcelona, ​​​​another of the requests they have long demanded. In this regard, Martí noted that the two infrastructures are "next door" to each other, a circumstance that "not many cities have," which should facilitate their connectivity.

Unions and Development also support

Yesterday, in a statement, Foment del Treball—the employers' association that represents large Catalan companies—also "highly valued" the agreement and the "500-meter extension of the third runway" at El Prat Airport "to boost intercontinental flights."

In the union world, UGT (Spanish Workers' Union) stated in a statement that it is "in favor of expanding the airport as long as the environmental requirements established by European, national, and Catalan legislation are met," as well as "the quality of employment." For its part, CCOO (Working Council of Workers) welcomed the arrival of "major investments" in Catalonia.

However, Unió de Pagesos opposed the proposal "due to its irreversible impact on land of high agricultural and environmental value in the Llobregat Delta."