"Oh, it's difficult to say when the works will begin. It's a complex, very important and strategic line for the country. The urban planning part has been done since 2010 and now we will have to start with studies and projects. It won't be tomorrow; these infrastructures cost". These are statements by the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, to Catalunya Ràdio about the macro-project that has been decisive to unblock the approval of the budgets: the orbital railway line. ERC wants to reactivate a plan that has been in a drawer for twenty years to give its "yes" to the accounts. In fact, the Republicans present it as a future bet for a network that this year has experienced an unprecedented crisis and is still trying to recover some semblance of normality.

One of the mantras ERC resorts to in defining its relationship with the PSC is that of "gaining sovereignty". The Republicans explain that their agreements are based on achieving more resources, competences, and decision-making capacity for Catalonia. Have they achieved this? For now, through republican and socialist pushes and pulls, they have been unblocking some of the files agreed upon in the investitures of Salvador Illa (2024) and Pedro Sánchez (2023). However, they have found the solution in a mixed formula: establishing companies jointly owned by the Generalitat and the State, where the state administration has a majority.

It has gone from being a project kept in a drawer since 2010 to becoming the protagonist of the budget negotiations between the PSC and ERC. At ARA we explain what the Orbital Railway Line (LOF) is in seven key points:

This morning, sports, Barça, gave us a reason to create a cheerful cover, that of theThe result has been another night of celebration for a fanbase that, unlike what happens in so many other aspects of the country, has high self-esteem. We hope that the adherence to Catalan identity that Barça has provided in a society of immigration continues to function thanks to these successes and the identification with this very young and very normal team. Another good piece of news: the PCR test on the Catalan woman who has been in isolation at the Hospital Clínic since Saturday has come back negative for hantavirus. The woman was admitted for quarantine because she had been in the same plane for a few minutes with the Dutch woman who contracted it on board the cruise ship and who ended up dying.The woman continues to show no symptoms and, in accordance with epidemiological surveillance protocols, will remain confined and under observation at the Clínic for prevention. In seven days, another PCR will be performed to confirm the negative result.And here we return to the harsh reality: from today onwards, the Rodalies service is once again subject to a charge. (It has always been subject to a charge, of course, we all pay for it: we are referring to the user's direct payment). Payment in exchange for what? The trains run when they want, the timetables are an intention, but of course, in many journeys, the train is a bus. The improvement of the service is being slow. It is clear that due to the harsh reality of education. A week of strikes in schools and institutes begins. Relations between the department and the unions are very tense. The only thing missing was for the unions to find out from the radio that the counselor wanted to see them on Thursday. They will meet on Thursday and, on top of that, we have the scandal of the infiltration of two Mossos agents into a teachers' assembly that we already talked about last Friday. Now that more details are known, apart from what it has of authoritarian regime espionage, it is even more humiliating that the police were discovered on such a simple mission.Let's see if it solves things a bit that we have budgets for this 2026. Late, but we will have budgets. So once the Andalusian elections have passed on Sunday, PSC and Esquerra will be able to present their agreement. It is scandalous, but Catalanophobia sets the pace of Spanish politics. Moreno Bonilla is campaigning to preside over Andalusia by constantly talking about Catalonia. After the breakdown weeks ago due to the new financing system for Catalonia, Esquerra set out to find a striking agreement. There is talk of a transfer of powers from the State, but in the meantime, Junqueras has explained that the agreement will include a train, curiously. This: An orbital axis that connects Maresme with Garraf, passing through the two Vallesos, Baix Llobregat and Penedès. In black the sections that exist and in yellow those that should be built. We are talking about up to 5,000 million euros of investment, which the State should largely provide. The project is old, but now they have taken it out of the drawer where it was sleeping.Good morning.

Rodalies users will pay again to use the train starting Saturday, May 9. After arguing that these past three months are "the period in which the most intense work and investment has been made in Rodalies to improve its operation," the Government has noted a "progressive improvement" in the service and, therefore, sees it viable to lift some exceptional measures, decreed "to accompany users during this period," as announced this Thursday by the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque. Thus, the last day to use the railway network for free will be Friday, May 8.

"Public transport should be considered an essential service, just like education or healthcare." This is one of the maxims of Joan Carles Salmerón, the director of the Centre d'Estudis del Transport Tèrminus and one of the experts in mobility in Catalonia. This week he has presented the book The bus and coach in Catalonia, the first publication that collects the entire history of the sector. All of this, at a time when buses have taken over from Rodalies, which is still struggling to recover from the crisis opened in January, after the fatal accident in Gelida.

Adif plans to restore freight train traffic through the Rubí tunnel next week. According to the manager of railway infrastructure, from the night of April 28, trains will once again run through this strategic point for the transport of goods by rail to France. This marks the completion of the first phase of the reinforcement, stabilization, and improvement work on the tunnel's infrastructure, which has lasted seven weeks.

In Catalonia, the population grows by 1% each year. In a population of 8 million people, this means 80,000 more people annually. According to Idescat, it's 76,000. If there are 3 people per household, this is equivalent to about 26,000 new homes each year (80,000/3 = 26,000). When land is ceded by municipalities, the construction of a home of about 80 or 100 m² has a cost of €150,000. The total annual investment to do this is, therefore, 3.9 billion euros per year (26,000x150,000 = 3.9 billion €/year). We must start by creating a territorial plan for Catalonia that identifies available land and facilitates municipalities making it available to the Generalitat for construction. However, is it viable to create a public-private company that builds these homes and rents them directly to individuals? If the investment amortization period is set at thirty years, the public debt it will entail will be around 117,000 million euros (3.900x30 = 117.000 M€). In the case of a 50% public and private investment, it would amount to 58,500 million euros.The average gross income of a Catalan family with two workers is €36,000/year (€1,500 x 12 months x 2 people = €36,000). The net income, after deducting income tax, is €25,200 (€36,000x0.7 = €25,200/year). The cost of a rental property should not exceed 30% of net income to live with some margin; that is, the rental cost should be less than €7,560/year (€25,200x0.3 = €7,560/year).The income generated by this rental —the  7,560 €— should remunerate three concepts. Calculated per dwelling and year, they are:—The return of the invested public capital (€75,000, equivalent to 50% of the €150,000 construction cost, over thirty years). €75,000/30 = €2,500/year.—The remuneration of the private investor (the remaining €75,000, starting from an investment of 5% profitability). 75,000x0.05= €3,750/year.—The payment of the debt interest (assuming an interest rate of 3% per year and calculated with a margin to cover interest variation and management cost). 75,000x0.03 ≈ 2,500 €/year.Therefore, the families'  7,560 € would not be enough to remunerate the sum of the three concepts, which amounts to  8,750 €.This situation would only be possible if families' income tax were halved during the rental period; that is, (36,000-25,200)/2 = €5,440/year. Thus, available family income would go from €25,200 to €30,560 (€36,000-€5,440 = €30,560). The percentage of net income after taxes dedicated to housing would be 8,750/30,560 = 29%, and it would meet the objective set by independent organizations.A rental housing system financed by public and private capital can be a solution, which, moreover, has the advantage of offering security and profitability to private investment. According to the Draghi report, the European Union has more private savings than the United States, but no mechanisms for investment. This would be one. However, the following conditions would need to be met:—The agreement must be controlled and guaranteed by public administrations, private investors, and tenants.—The project must be maintained as a whole; not individually, housing by housing. It gives security to the investor and the tenant.—Getting municipalities to cede square meters of municipal land is not possible unless it is with the patronage of the State.This is a model that promotes housing for the population with medium-low incomes at a moderate cost. It has been used in Holland and Austria. It is a safe, but not a quick, solution.

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, met this morning at first light with the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, at Palau, to address the situation in which Renfe's commuter service in Catalonia has been immersed since the crisis opened in January, with the accidents in Adamuz and Gelida. This is the first meeting between the two leaders since the railway crisis broke out, almost three months ago. Puente and Illa arranged this meeting by taking advantage of the fact that the minister has been in Barcelona since yesterday because he attended the first edition of the AENA literary awards last night.

Surveys are often published asking the population, or specific groups, what issues concern them most. Rarely are the results surprising. This lack of surprise is basically due to two principles: media intensity and proximity. The media intensity principle states that the more coverage an issue receives in the media, the more relevant we perceive it to be. The proximity principle, for its part, operates when the problem directly affects our daily lives or those of someone close to us.

Problems are piling up on the R2 Sud Rodalies line, in Garraf, since the tunnel maintenance works began two weeks ago. The alternative transport plan designed to ensure train circulation while the work continues is not working. The reason? Some of the drivers have refused to work with the new schedules defined by Renfe for this operation, which has rendered the new timetable for the trains useless, as they now run on a single track due to the works. The Spanish drivers' union Semaf alleges that the company did not comply with the established deadlines to give sufficient notice of the changes.

This Sunday's gale caused 1,098 calls to the 112 emergency telephone number and 721 alerts to the Generalitat Firefighters between Saturday and Sunday evening. Most were concentrated in the Girona demarcation – the area most affected by the wind is Baix Empordà – but there were also some incidents in other locations. Eight people were also injured, none seriously, as a result of the wind.

We arrive at Easter, at the school holidays, the departure operations and the monas, stating that the return will be tough. Everything is rising due to the war in Iran, and since the end of the war is not in sight, the damage to our pockets from this inflation will last for a few weeks, at least. Yesterday evening, Trump pulled ten more days of ultimatum deadline out of the hat for the ayatollahs, while he systematically lies every day (and a lot, because he doesn't stop talking) just to prevent oil from continuing to rise in price and the stock markets from continuing to sink. He just keeps saying the war is won, but the Strait of Hormuz continues to be dominated by Iran, and the regime has not fallen. Meanwhile, in Spanish politics, there has been the announced change that could influence the future of the common financing system that applies to us. Yesterday, Vice President Montero resigned to go to Andalusia and his replacement will be Carlos Cuerpo, until now Minister of Finance. A doctor in economics, polyglot, technician, he does not have a PSOE membership card, a man who does not shout, an economist prepared to sit in Brussels or Washington or wherever; nothing to do with the mercurial Montero. And his place at the Ministry of Finance is taken by Arcadi España, a Valencian from President Ximo Puig's circle, who considers himself a federalist, who has often denounced how poorly funded the Valencian Community is, and who will have to move forward, seemingly with conviction, with the new system agreed with Esquerra. They say that in the PSC they are happy with España's appointment. But however federalist and aware he may be of the poor funding of the Valencian Community, can a socialist minister change anything about the distribution of money? This is the big question and the precedents are not precisely reassuring.

We arrive at Holy Week, school holidays, departure operations and the "monas" affirming that the return will be tough. Everything is rising due to the war in Iran, and since the end of the war is not in sight, the damage to our pockets from this inflation will last for a few weeks, at least. Last night, Trump pulled ten more days out of his hat for the ultimatum to the ayatollahs, while he systematically lies every day (and a lot, because he doesn't stop talking) just to prevent oil from continuing to rise in price and stock markets from continuing to fall. He just keeps saying that the war is won, but the Strait of Hormuz continues to be dominated by Iran, and the regime has not fallen. Meanwhile, in Spanish politics, there has been the announced change that could influence the future of the common financing system that applies to us. Yesterday, Vice President Montero resigned to go to Andalusia and his replacement will be Carlos Cuerpo, until now Minister of Finance. A doctor in economics, multilingual, technical, he does not have a PSOE party card, a man who does not shout, an economist prepared to sit in Brussels or Washington or wherever; nothing to do with the mercurial Montero. And his place at the Ministry of Finance is taken by Arcadi España, a Valencian from President Ximo Puig's circle, who considers himself a federalist, who has often denounced how poorly financed the Valencian Community is, and who will have to move forward, seemingly with conviction, with the new system agreed with Esquerra. They say that in the PSC they are happy with España's appointment. But however federalist and aware he may be of the poor financing of the Valencian Community, can a socialist minister change anything about the distribution of money? This is the big question and the precedents are not precisely reassuring.

For over a week now, the intercity bus stop on Gran Via, located between Aribau and Muntaner streets, has been teeming with activity. From six in the evening onwards, it becomes an unstoppable hive of activity: buses double-parked, horns blaring, and passengers rushing from work to get home to the various towns in the Garraf region, where these buses serve. Where three buses used to stop, up to six now stop—double the usual number. The reason? Once again, the economic crisis and the commuter rail construction.

The southern commuter rail corridor, one of the most strained sections of the Catalan rail network, continues to face setbacks. This March, it was announced that one of the key projects intended to improve train capacity and flow on this section of the R2 South line—the quadrupling of the tracks between Castelldefels and El Prat—has been stalled once again and is now pushed back to well beyond 2030. The reason? A change of heart by the Ministry of Transport has sent the project back to square one: the initial administrative procedures must begin anew, rendering the original timeline meaningless. Adding these tracks to the R2 line is considered one of the most significant actions in the Commuter Rail Plan in terms of improving capacity in this area. The project is not new; it first appeared in the 2020 Commuter Rail Plan. In mid-2024, with Adif's approval, the construction project was drafted. At that time, the work was considered simply an "expansion" of the existing infrastructure, which technically allowed bureaucratic steps to move forward.

Concluding a week of nationwide strikes, Teachers have blocked the Ronda de Dalt ring road at several points this morningShortly before 7:00 a.m., approximately 400 people blocked traffic in both directions in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, just before the La Trinitat interchange. Later, about 100 protesters blocked the same road near Vall d'Hebron Hospital, followed by another blockade on the B-20 highway near Finestrelles, in Esplu. This action is a response to the agreement the government reached two weeks ago with the CCOO and UGT unions, presented as a "national pact," but which did not receive the support of Ustec, the largest union in the education sector, or the Secondary School Teachers' Union, the largest union in secondary schools.

Resignation is the prevailing feeling on the first day of the launch of the alternative services. railway maintenance works in the Garraf tunnelsEarly Monday morning, Adif began work to improve this infrastructure, which is badly damaged by marine corrosion. This also meant it was the first day of the alternative road plan, using buses, organized by Renfe to mitigate the effects and ensure mobility for its customers. However, many users say they have long been accustomed to the bus due to the constant disruptions and construction, especially on this section of the rail network. Therefore, today's work didn't "surprise" them. Others lament the fact that the new system will force them to get up earlier or reorganize their workday. This is the case for Andy, who commutes to Barcelona every day and now says he will have to get up 40 minutes earlier. "The train is never good, I've gotten used to the bus," explained Cesc Lacalle, a student, in statements to ACN. Yolanda, another traveler, explains the same thing: for months she's preferred to leave "with more time" but with the option of arriving on time, she says. Selena, who says she usually travels by bus for convenience, considered this morning, during rush hour, that the increased service is "a great solution, as far as possible."

The latest Commuter Rail Plan, the most up-to-date, is almost 300 pages long. It's the document that details all the railway works planned from now until 2030 to improve the Catalan network: it explains what they consist of, specifies their cost, and establishes a timeline. These range from the most ambitious projects, such as the Sagrera station, the doubling of the R3 line, and the undergrounding of the Montcada station, to much smaller, faster, and even cheaper projects that can significantly improve the network's capacity. One of these smaller planned projects is in Tordera. It's classified under the section of "strategic" works programmed to "improve network capacity" and involves building a siding in front of this station, on the section of the R1 line between Blanes and Maçanet-Massanes. "This section is single-track, without sidings, for a length of more than 15 kilometers," the plan notes. "To facilitate the resolution of incidents that may disrupt the normal operation of the line, it is proposed to reinstate the siding and platform formerly in use at Tordera station," the document continues.

A scare in La Garriga. Part of a bridge spanning the Onze de Setembre avenue in the town collapsed this Saturday morning. The incident caused no injuries, but forced the closure of the central avenue. The Town Hall explained that the area is affected by the R3 line doubling works, which have kept rail service suspended since autumn. The council maintains that it is a safety risk zone and alleges that the collapse is due to "poor execution of the works." Therefore, they announce that they will demand explanations and accountability from Adif, the infrastructure manager and the company responsible for the project. According to municipal sources, the Onze de Setembre avenue is a busy thoroughfare and a main route between the eastern and western parts of the town. The collapse occurred mid-morning, at a time when no vehicles were passing, which is why no injuries were reported. The R3 roadworks have caused mobility restrictions in this area since January, and the City Council says they have been complaining for some time that the work is not being carried out "properly." The mayor of La Garriga, Meritxell Budó, explained to ARA that she believes there is a "lack of coordination" that is leaving the works unfinished. In a message on social media, the Councilor for Economic Development, Commerce, Mobility, and Climate Action, Àlex Valiente, explained that the situation in the municipality with the construction "creates hazardous situations." Valiente asserted that the council has been denouncing this "at every follow-up meeting" for some time. "And in the end, it happened," he concluded before demanding "immediate solutions."