Airports, banks and the country we want to be

These days, two key issues are converging. On the one hand, the Generalitat (Catalan government) and a large part of civil society are insisting on expanding El Prat Airport to strengthen Catalonia's intercontinental connection. On the other hand, Banc Sabadell is the subject of a takeover by BBVA. Two seemingly unrelated news items that, viewed from a national perspective, are part of the same debate: what do we want to be? What kind of economy do we want to build?

The airport expansion is explained as a commitment to attract talent, investment, and value-added economic activity. It is a necessary aspiration. But it must be made clear: a longer runway alone will not transform a country's economic fabric. It may be a necessary condition, but it is by no means sufficient.

The airport project must be part of a strategy that completes its own ecosystem – like the one Bavaria and other European superregions have –, integrating a robust public health system, courageous environmental policies, a quality education system, research and innovation connected to the productive economy, a rooted and competitive creative financial market, and, of course, fair and supportive financing.

Global project

Without a coherent strategy, a major infrastructure project can end up being nothing more than a gateway to increased mass tourism and greater pressure on housing and services. However, if it's part of a comprehensive project, it can become a lever for real transformation.

The case of Munich clearly exemplifies this. It's a city with a population similar to Barcelona's. It's not the capital of a state (but, and this is relevant, the capital of a federal state), and it has managed to build a robust economy based on advanced industry, knowledge, research, and finance. It does have a powerful intercontinental airport. But this airport is both a consequence and a driving force of an entire ecosystem: large companies, excellent universities, technological clusters, and its own financial system.

Catalonia, thanks to the great collective efforts of recent decades, is not as far removed from the results of a different model (less industrial and more based on research and other value-added services) as we might think it would be to aspire to results like those of the Bavarian model. We have a good public health system—albeit underfunded—outstanding universities and research centers, a dynamic cultural fabric of our own, the Mediterranean's leading port, and much more.

However, we still need to improve the pre-university education system, define a decent urban planning and housing model, strengthen mobility infrastructure (commuter rail network, AP-7, etc.), and guarantee fair funding. If we take this step, we'll resemble Munich in terms of results. If not, we risk falling down a division and becoming like Manchester, Lyon, or Marseille: important cities with some notable attractions, but without intercontinental connections or an economy capable of competing at the European level in high-value-added sectors. Cities trapped in a kind of second division, which have lost strategic weight within Europe and their own countries.

The takeover bid for Sabadell

And that's where the Banc Sabadell case comes in. This isn't just a change in fiscal direction. It's a takeover that benefits BBVA shareholders and executives—who, it must be said, are doing their part—but seriously harms customers, employees, business ecosystems, and entire territories.

Specifically, it jeopardizes the vitality of the productive economy of the Mediterranean region and the north of Spain: both areas with the most dynamic and export-oriented economic fabric in Spain. It is, therefore, an operation contrary to the general interest of all Spanish citizens, not just those of Catalonia and Valencia.

In Catalonia, the takeover bid further aggravates the situation. As Agustí Sala recently pointed out in that same newspaper, if the operation goes through, more than 70% of the market share will be in the hands of just two entities: CaixaBank and BBVA. This is an unprecedented concentration in Europe, which reduces competition, impoverishes the financial offering, and weakens territorial roots. Furthermore, it leaves most family businesses—which are the heart of the Catalan productive fabric—in the hands of a quasi-oligopoly of banks. And this, in the medium term, will weaken the Catalan business fabric. In the medium term, then, everyone loses. Europe wants cross-border mergers precisely to avoid internal oligopolies.

We cannot want an airport like Munich's and at the same time allow a banking institution like Banc Sabadell to fail. It's a deep-rooted entity that understands the business world and is part of the invisible infrastructure that enables Catalonia to grow, invest, and innovate.

A key player

For this reason, to guarantee the general interest, the intervention of the Spanish government is so necessary, as is the firm and shared pressure of public administrations, Catalan political parties, and civil society. Not as a defense of a specific bank, but as a protection of a key asset of our economic system.

President Illa aspires to once again place the Catalan economy among the most powerful in Europe, and it is a timely and well-founded aspiration, and one likely shared by a large majority of Catalans. To achieve this, and for the sake of consistency, it is necessary to protect the assets that can make it a reality. This includes infrastructure (such as the airport), but also economic institutions (such as Banc Sabadell) and everything that makes up a complete socioeconomic ecosystem.

Barcelona can be Munich. But only if it does what Munich and Bavaria do: have a national vision, a shared strategy, and governments capable of generating long-term consensus. And that's why it's necessary to demand from the State a system of banking competition that prevents oligopolistic concentration. And, at the same time, to place the productive economy at the center of Catalan political priorities. With ambition, vision, and commitment.

If we do this, we can become what most Catalans surely want to be: a country with its own personality, dynamic, prosperous, and supportive of all.