Trueta's new hospital hub is beginning to take shape (before the Clínic passes it by)

GironaThe new Josep Trueta Hospital is expected to be the major urban development project for the Girona region in the 21st century. It involves the construction of a large hospital center on the border between Girona and Salt, with cutting-edge technology to meet the needs of the entire population of the health region, as well as a research campus to incentivize research and retain local university talent. After more than 20 years of delays, unfulfilled promises, and disputes between administrations, the Salt City Council, the Girona City Council, and the Generalitat de Catalunya finally reached an agreement in the summer of 2020. final agreement on the land and location of the project. It will be built at the southern entrance to the city, on plots of land measuring around 305,000 m² (288,500 of which belong to the municipality of Salt and 16,500 to Girona), opposite the Santa Caterina Hospital, between the motorway and the Masrocs stream. As is customary with these infrastructures, the two local councils involved are responsible for providing the land and preparing the access points, while the Generalitat (Catalan government) is responsible for carrying out the work, which will cost more than €500 million.

The project is progressing according to schedule: the Catalan government has already selected the five graphic design proposals from the bidding process, which cost more than €24 million, and is now beginning the second phase to choose the winning design, which should be awarded before 2026. The team of engineers and architects will then...

Now, there is a point in the planning, at the end of the Girona lands in the Can Gibert del Pla neighborhood, that threatens to torpedo the project agreed upon in 2020 and that is causing a lot of headaches for the Girona City Council. It is the Jordi Vilamitjana Park, one of the main green lungs of this area, with 400 trees and various recreational spaces, which, according to Girona City Council maps, would be affected by the construction of the hospital. The City Council intends to build a 347-apartment development on it and relocate the park to the adjacent plot, but many local residents, who have formed the platform "The Park Is Not Toca," are radically opposed and demand that the park be preserved intact.

Maintaining the park's location would cost more than 10 million euros.

Girona City Council argues that maintaining the location of Vilamitjana Park is completely incompatible with the construction of the new Health Campus in the south of the city, as it is part of the urban planning operations necessary to develop the sector. This is because, according to law, the renovation of streets, roundabouts, water connections, or lighting for any public project is the responsibility of the city councils and must be "economically self-sufficient." And, in this case, to finance the works, the Girona municipal government is promoting a real estate development on the park's public land, where more than 300 apartments will be built, 150 of which will be for social housing.

The beneficiaries of this real estate development are the two families of Mas Sureda and Mas Bellsolà, owners of the land where the new Trueta is to be built. Instead of expropriating the land, the City Council has opted for a development swap, offering them the municipal land in Vilamitjana Park to build apartments. In exchange for not only constructing the homes but also financing the development of the access roads to the new Trueta. Without this development, the City Council would have to pay more than €10 million out of its own pocket (including the expropriation of the farmhouses and the costs of rehabilitating the area), which it cannot afford. The Generalitat (Catalan Government) also has no intention of covering these costs, as they fall outside its scope of action. "We've looked at all the options, we've studied all the alternatives, but none are feasible; the only change in the use of the sector that would make the project viable and pay for itself is to affect the existing stock," explains Sergi Font, Deputy Mayor for Urban Area.

The park is not destroyed, it is moved

But the park does not disappear, but would be moved to the plot next door, next to the Masrocs stream, which is flood zone and where floors cannot be raisedThe site is narrower, but would extend southward toward Vilablareix, following the stream, and would be integrated with the apartments and the new hospital. The City Council's intention is to maintain the same number of trees (or increase it) and also preserve theskate park and the slides themselves, with the idea of expanding and transforming this peripheral area of the city, which is currently surrounded by empty fields and truck parking lots. Sergi Font argues that "the proposal incorporates economic viability, but also maintains ecological balance because green space is not lost, and urbanistically, we will end up connecting the Can Gibert neighborhood with the entire new Trueta, turning the area into a very interesting attraction." He concludes: "We understand the emotional connection and the symbolic element of the neighborhood with the park, but we will continue holding meetings with residents, listen to their needs, initiate participatory processes, and support the neighborhood so that it can notice the improvements."

Residents are calling for solutions to prevent "a green area from being privatized."

For now, the members of El Parc No es Toca remain at odds with the city council. In fact, this Monday they organized a new demonstration and presented a motion in the plenary session in favor of the park, which was rejected with votes against from the governing team of Guanyem, Junts, and Esquerra. "We're talking about purely financial reasons: the new hospital, in total, will cost 700 million euros, while the park represents 3 million euros of expropriation plus urbanization, 3% of the total. So we ask that the City Council, if it can't pay, and we understand that, find solutions," a spokesperson for the citizens' platform explained.

In the exchange transaction, the Mas Sureda farmhouse, which is now a restaurant, would be demolished because it is affected by the new Trueta buildings, while the Bellsolà farmhouse would be preserved for its heritage value, now as a municipal building, within the new location of the park.

Girona City Council plans to approve the modifications to the urban planning regulations in the first half of 2025, pending approval from the Urban Planning Commission, in order to continue with the construction process of the new hospital. Salt City Council, for its part, is also working with this same schedule to complete the urban planning operations that will serve to finance the access works, although, in this case, without any controversial plots involved.