The Government takes the step to speed up procedures at the Three Chimneys

BarcelonaA step forward by the Government to accelerate the conversion of the Three Chimneys of Sant Adrià de Besòs into an audiovisual hub. The Catalan executive has approved declaring the Catalunya Media City a strategic project for the country. A measure that will eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and speed up key actions for the project, such as everything related to energy infrastructure. With this declaration, the Government aims for the Three Chimneys to access priority processing regarding connection permits and capacity to the electricity grid.

As it already did last May with two other key projects for the country – the future Campus Clínic and the new Campus Salut of Girona – the Generalitat is now promoting another of the most relevant initiatives it has on the table. The Government thus clings to the possibilities offered by the figure of strategic investment projects created by the Spanish government through a royal decree to speed up large projects across the State. Now, Pedro Sánchez's executive will have to confirm that this is a key initiative.

If it achieves this qualification, the Catalunya Media City project will be able to access several administrative benefits. Among them, preferential access to aid programs and public funds, and facilities for access and connection to electrical, hydraulic, and transport infrastructures. The latter is a particularly relevant factor because it should allow the facility to be equipped with sufficient electrical power to serve the audiovisual, digital, educational, and business activities that will be established there.

Cornerstone of the area's transformation

To achieve strategic project classification, the Government emphasizes that the remodeling of the Tres Xemeneies is a key initiative for both the country's economic and digital transformation and for regenerating an area of the Besòs coastline while preserving its industrial heritage. Last March, the Government already presented the details of the area's reurbanization, which is defined by the Urban Planning Master Plan (PDU) approved in 2023.

This plan governs 32 hectares of land straddling Sant Adrià de Besòs and Badalona, of which 18.3 are public space between the new roads to be built and the future coastal park. Four months ago, the Catalan executive presented, for the first time, virtual recreations of how the streets and passageways of an area that, in addition to Catalunya Media City, will accommodate more than 1,800 new homes in the future, 40% of which are protected, will materialize.

Before that, the entire area will need to be urbanized. The project, designed by the Batlle i Roig studio, seeks to break with the barrier posed by the railway line and create a more permeable delta with the northern area of Sant Adrià de Besòs and Badalona. To achieve this, a new underpass will be built under the tracks on Avinguda del Maresme and two elevated walkways on Avinguda de la Platja and Carrer de Ramon Viñas. Additionally, the current underpass on Carrer Olímpic will also be repaired. The transformation of the area also includes the arrival of the tram to the port of Badalona.