Two investigations against drug trafficking have shown, once again, Barcelona's prominence as one of the entry points for cocaine into Europe, but also how drug traffickers attempt to infiltrate airport structures and bribe workers to assist them in transporting the drugs.

Spanish airport operator Aena has explained that the Third Airport Regulation Document (DORA III) for the period 2027-2031 includes a record volume of regulated investments of €9.991 billion, reaching €12.888 billion when complementary investments are included. The country's two main airports account for more than 62% of the regulated investment: Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas will receive €4.4774 billion and Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, €1.7652 billion, totaling €6.2426 billion between the two.

The person responsible for the false bomb threat that caused an emergency landing at El Prat airport on Thursday has yet to be identified, nor have the potential consequences been clarified. However, legal experts consulted by ARA agree that the passenger could face charges for public disorder. Cases involving false bomb threats are not frequent, but in this state there has been at least one acquittal and one conviction in cases that, while not exactly the same, could serve as precedents for a potential legal proceeding regarding the events on the Turkish Airlines plane.

Of the 3.2 billion euros planned to expand El Prat airport, as announced this summer, over 1 billion would be spent in the Airport Regulation Document for the period 2027-2031 (DORA III). The rest of the investment, that is, around 2.2 billion euros, would be left for the next five-year period (2032-2036) or DORA IV, as confirmed by sources from Aena this Friday.

The forecast of heavy rain in Catalonia over the next few days has forced several airlines to take measures. In Barcelona alone, Josep Tarradellas Airport recorded a day with cancellations and delays for several flights due to bad weather. Specifically, 29 flights were canceled and more than 40 were delayed, according to Aena data.

Workers at Menzies, the company that provides ground service to a dozen airlines at El Prat Airport, have suspended their planned strike days for this weekend. The strike committee, led by the UGT (Union of Workers' Unions), has reached a preliminary agreement with management on issues such as paying outstanding working days and guaranteeing schedules that do not exceed the maximums established by the collective bargaining agreement. Improvements have also been achieved, such as a more equitable distribution of shifts and breaks, the planning of holidays without impositions, and the monthly publication of shifts.

The second day of the handling staff strike at Spanish airports has been minimally disrupted. The first, which began this Friday only with Ryanair handling staff, Azul Handling, suffered minimal impact. This Saturday, which was expected to be more chaotic due to the addition of a strike by Menzies ground staff at Ryanair, only resulted in some cancellations and delays at El Prat airport for more than ten airlines operating with Menzies, and some delays at Girona and Reus airports.

El Prat Airport is preparing for a busy long weekend. with 4,200 scheduled flights and strikes in the ground services of some airlines. The first is that of the employees of Azul, the subsidiary of handling (baggage and cargo services) of Ryanair, which begins this Friday, August 15th. In addition, on Saturday and Sunday, the staff of another company, Menzies, which provides the same services to Emirates, British Airways, American Airlines, EasyJet, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian, and Wizz Air, will join the strike. Vueling, the main operator at El Prat, has its own company within the IAG group and is not affected by these labor disputes, which, in any case, could disrupt the operations of many Spanish airports. The strikes will put Barcelona to the test, which is precisely In July, it broke the historical record for passengers in a month, with 5.5 millionUnion sources estimate that the strikes could affect 40% of scheduled flights at this facility.

Barcelona Airport continues to expand and has been surpassing its goals for some time now. After achieving its first the more than 55 million passengers last year, the infrastructure continues to grow this year and is aiming for a new record, challenging its theoretical limits of maximum capacity.

The tourism sector broke records in 2024 and is on track to repeat them this year, although the figures are growing. with less force in these first six monthsWith El Prat airport exceeding its theoretical capacity limit, with more than 55 million passengers, one of its routes has become the busiest in all of Europe. The short-haul flight between Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca received the highest number of travelers in 2024, according to data collected from 240 airlines by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

With the expansion agreement of El Prat One of the main conflicts that the airport has been dragging on for decades has also been resolved. If Barcelona Airport is very close to the city, it is also close to the Catalan capital's other major infrastructure. On the other side of the Llobregat River is the Port of Barcelona, which has also been growing towards the city of El Prat, concentrating more activity in that area.

With the agreement to expand Barcelona airport already on the table, Esquerra will seek to have the Parliament reject it this week in the framework of the monographic debate on infrastructure. Faced with the Government's commitment to a more connected airport, the opposition was divided in the session held this Tuesday between those who called for halting the project agreed upon between Salvador Illa's executive and the Spanish government, and those who defended accelerating it.

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?

Once the light is on, Green light for the expansion of El Prat airport Doubts arise that perhaps should have been resolved earlier. And not all of them are green, that is, environmental, which are undoubtedly also essential. The first has to do with governance. Who will manage this facility? Shouldn't economic and social stakeholders be involved in some way? And to know exactly what we're talking about, shouldn't the manager, Aena, provide financial data on each of the airports, starting with the one in the Catalan capital?

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of listening to Jordi Sargatal on TV3. The eminent naturalist, responsible for the recovery of the Empordà marshes, has had the courage to get involved, as Secretary of Ecological Transition of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), in the design and management of public policies. Responding to a question, he explained that in the not-too-distant future we will have to face a rise in sea level, but that, like the Netherlands, we will have the techniques to adapt and, in particular, to avoid losing the airport. I thought that the solution that E. Alonso, J. Coello, F. Hermosilla, G. López-Casasnovas, J. Ros, and myself have advocated—a runway on stilts in the sea—has good prospects for the future of Sargatal. His day has not yet come, but who knows if those who advocate extending the airport over the sea will be considered premature visionaries in the 22nd century.

The proposed expansion of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport once again endangers one of Catalonia's most fragile and valuable natural areas: the Llobregat Delta. Given the announcement made this week by AENA and the Generalitat (Catalan government), it is necessary to firmly oppose any project that would further impact this environment, especially while Spain is facing an infringement procedure with the European Commission (case EU-Pilot 5866/13/ENVI) for the poor management of this area.

New warning from Brussels to Spain and the government of Salvador Illa for the expansion of El Prat airport. The day after the proposal presented by the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government) regarding the future of the infrastructure, the European Commission issued a statement on Wednesday warning the State that it "must take the necessary measures to prevent further deterioration of the Natura 2000 area in the Llobregat Delta as a result of the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects," such as the "international" one.

Pau Marí is an air traffic controller and works in Gavà, in one of the five control centres in Spain where the planes that pass through the entire Spanish sovereignty area are managed.

The Catalan government's spokeswoman, Patrícia Plaja, has declared that it would not surprise her if some councillors participated in the demonstration called for Sunday 19th against the extension of El Prat airport. This would be paradoxical as the executive's official position is that it is in favour of the extension as long as there are no serious environmental affectations. This is the consensus in the government and this is the agreement reached by the vice-president, Jordi Puigneró, with Aena. It is true that the first document presented by Aena last Friday, the so-called DORA, plans to extend the third runway over the protected area of La Ricarda, and this tipped president Aragonès's position against the extension. But Plaja's words are a hint that doubts around the project are multiplying within the Catalan Government, especially inside ERC. In fact, the deputy spokeswoman of the parliamentary group of ERC, Meritxell Serret, advanced in an interview with ARA her predisposition to participate in the demonstration and assures that all the group shares her opinion.

"Barcelona will have an intercontinental airport and the airports of Reus and Girona will have high-speed train stations connecting them". Thus goes the agreement reached this Monday between the central government, the Generalitat and state airport company Aena to give the green light to the expansion of El Prat airport. After months of heated public debate, which has pitted Catalan economic forces and Aena against ecological movements, neighbours and city councils of the metropolitan area, this afternoon it has been announced that the agreement that unlocks a planned investment of €1.7bn in Catalonia's biggest infrastructure.