Burying the Gran Via underground in Hospitalet: the Government advances the funds and unblocks the works.

BarcelonaThe burying of the Gran Via, as it passes through L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, takes another step forward. The construction project was approved five years ago And work was due to begin imminently the following year, in 2021, but it wasn't until this Monday morning that the project was unblocked. The Generalitat (Catalan Government) and the Hospitalet City Council have reached an agreement to begin repairing this section of land between the Rambla Marina and the Llobregat River. If all goes well, the new schedule indicates that work will finally begin during the second half of next year. This is a significant project, both in terms of its economic volume and its social impact, as it aims to transform the entire Bellvitge Hospital area into the largest biomedical hub in southern Europe.

The new agreement to move forward with this underground project was signed during the first bilateral meeting of this term between the regional government and the L'Hospitalet City Council. This meeting, for the first time, had the same party, the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), on both sides of the negotiating table. In fact, at the meeting, led by the Minister for the Presidency, Albert Dalmau; the Minister for Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero; and the mayor of the municipality, David Quirós, an agreement was reached to finance the work, which had been stalling the project.

The total cost of the project amounts to €144 million for this first phase. The municipality was supposed to pay 27% (39.8 million) and the Generalitat (Catalan government) 19% (28.4 million), but with this morning's agreement, the government has committed to meeting its share and also that which would correspond to L'Hospitalet. In return, the city will offset the advance payments made by the Generalitat (Catalan government) through the delivery of various plots of land, 50% of which the government will allocate to urban development projects or public facilities.

What will be built on top?

The undergrounding of the road paves the way for the development of the so-called Biopol Granvia Urban Master Plan, a "strategic" project for Catalonia, according to the authorities, who want to turn this area of ​​Hospitalet de Llobregat into one of the most important economic hubs for the research and innovation sector in southern Europe.

Thus, covering this road will allow residents to connect "on foot" to such important healthcare centers as the Bellvitge University Hospital, the Catalan Institute of Oncology - Duran i Reynals Hospital, Idibell, and the University of Barcelona, ​​​​an area already known as the Innovation and Health Biocluster, because it is concentrated in just a few meters.

The reorganization of this area is also key due to its location, between the airport, the Port, the Zona Franca Logistics Park, and the Fira (trade fair). It is expected that in the future this new complex will generate "high added value" economic activity and a "strong impact on the labor market and the GDP of Catalonia." In fact, once operational, it is estimated that it will help create almost 50,000 jobs and will have a turnover of more than 7 billion euros.

"It is a major agreement, in line with the reflection we have expressed on other occasions: this country needs projects of this magnitude, of this ambition," said Minister Dalmau. In turn, the mayor of L'Hospitalet described the day as "historic" and recalled that it is a "long-awaited" agreement that has now become a reality: "We will work together, and I believe that one of the most important elements of the agreement on the underground burial is that 50 percent of the public land around the Bellvitge Biopol can be converted,

New construction schedule

The works for this first phase, the underground project, are expected to last three years (from the second half of 2026 to the first half of 2029). The second part, which corresponds to the urbanization of the surface and the creation of the entire Biopol, will last another two and a half years, until the end of 2030.

This major project puts one of the parties that wanted to hide in L'Hospitalet to work, but it is not the only one. Also pending is the Burying the R2 and R4 commuter rail tracks as they pass through the most urban area of the municipality, a historical demand that has been dragging on for decades, that has been announced numerous times, but has not been implemented either.