Infrastructure is a national issue. And it should be treated as such. The Chamber of Commerce, together with the council that brings together the 13 existing chambers of commerce in Catalonia, has launched an observatory to monitor public investment. It will not only point out what hasn't been done but also propose what should be done, both in the immediate future and in the longer term. The most urgent projects, up to 2030, total €14.5 billion and cover priorities such as rail, airports, water, and roads. But it doesn't stop there; it also projects to 2043, at which point the necessary investments reach €53.8 billion.
All of this has been achieved through a study that compiles the strategic projects needed to overcome a series of common issues that also demand changes in governance, with management closer to the local level, especially regarding airports of general interest and major road networks. In a message addressed to the Spanish government, the observatory concludes that it is completely verifiable that the way things have been done until now has not worked.
The catalog of initiatives proposed by the business world should put an end to some of the problems that have persisted for years. One is the need to minimize the gap between what is budgeted and what is ultimately spent. One of the participants expressed it very clearly: "Budgets are high, but spending is low." Indeed, can we be dazzled by large figures that are promised but not actually committed to? The truth is that in the period from 2021 to 2023 alone, the average state execution rate was 41%. The study warns that a very large infrastructure investment deficit has accumulated, and that the plans and programs currently being implemented are essentially the legacy of previous plans that were either not implemented or significantly delayed, designed for a future that is now yesterday.
And that entails another problem, related to complying with the Statute of Autonomy. Specifically, its third additional provision, which establishes that state investment in Catalonia should represent 19% of the total, when it barely reaches 16%, generating an accumulated deficit of projects that should be carried out but haven't.
And the other issue is to warn the Spanish government—since it will have to provide the largest share of resources, more than 75%—that it must adapt and plan for the country's needs. One factor to consider is that in the last 25 years, Catalonia's population has grown from around six million inhabitants to more than eight million, and is projected to reach 10 million by 2050. This implies greater mobility. All of this requires foresight and, as the chambers of commerce say, a national agreement, because it is a strategic and essential issue, and to pressure the administrations, especially the central government, to recognize the need to "develop an intensive process of planning, tendering, and execution sustained over time, year after year, from today until 2043." And to ensure it is implemented.
