Collboni proposes that the Sagrera station bears the name of Pasqual Maragall

BarcelonaThe Sagrera station could end up bearing the name of Pasqual Maragall. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has explained that he has proposed to the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, and the Spanish government that the infrastructure bear the name of the former mayor of Barcelona and driving force behind the project. According to Collboni, interviewed on The morning show on Catalunya Ràdio, the daughters of the also former president of the Generalitat have received the proposal with excitement and support it. "I believe the city had to pay tribute to Mayor Maragall," stated the mayor.

Collboni, who recalled that the Sagrera project dates back to the late eighties, defended that the proposal would allow for the recognition of the vision of the person who imagined and promoted a large intermodal station in the north of the city almost 35 years ago. Regarding the schedule for the infrastructure works, which will connect Rodalies, high-speed rail, the metro, and buses, the mayor has set 2031 as the year planned for their completion. According to Collboni, the underground structure is practically finished, but the building still needs to be constructed, with a planned investment of 340 million euros. "It will be a station of stations," he summarized.

250 million to connect La Sagrera and Sant Andreu

The surroundings of the future station will also undergo a profound urban transformation, with the planned construction of 11,347 homes, half of which will be protected, and a four-kilometer linear park, the works for which will begin next year, according to the mayor. Collboni wanted to highlight the scope of the project, which goes beyond railway infrastructure: "We are opening a new space in the city, closing wounds, and we will build the most important station of stations in Catalonia and one of the most important in Europe".

In parallel, the City Council plans to invest about 250 million euros during the next term to connect the neighborhoods of Sant Andreu and La Sagrera, separated for years by the railway works. The goal, according to Collboni, is to "reconnect the neighborhoods of Sant Andreu and La Sagrera", which have lived for "too many years in front of a gap, in front of a pit that existed between the two neighborhoods". Thus, he said, the project for the future station is proposed not only as a leap forward in railway connectivity but also as an operation of urban transformation.