The central government and that of the Generalitat have finally signed the protocols for the construction of the section of the B-40 between Terrassa, Sabadell and Castellar del Vallès, and for the management of other infrastructures worth 914 million euros. However, this heading does not yet imply the execution, much less immediate, of the works, since the respective execution agreements must still be signed, in which the details of the projects must be defined, including the economic items for defray them
After the agreement between both parties was confirmed a week ago, as reported by La Vanguardia, by which the Executive of Pedro Sánchez would transfer the funds to the Generalitat for the execution of the road that must link Terrassa, with Sabadell and Castellar del Vallès, as well as the amount of 914 million euros committed to Catalonia through the agreement for the General State Budgets, both parties have signed electronically, perhaps to avoid a photo in the middle of the electoral campaign, the respective protocols, which they are nothing more than mere “manifests of political will”, according to sources from the central Executive.
It has been the Regional Minister for Territories, Ester Capella, and the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, who have signed the protocols, which in any case arrives late since the signatures should have been stamped before March 31. However, various disagreements over financing and the characteristics of the works, especially the Ronda Nord, meant that a final agreement was not reached until last weekend.
In any case, for the works to start definitively, a long process will still be necessary that must begin with the signing of the agreements, where the Government must define the projects after discussion with the respective local authorities. In addition, in all infrastructures, the central government maintains the power of “final approval”, as it is owned by the State.
In addition, the signing of the agreements, due to the cumbersome procedures, in no case will it take place before the next general elections and, if there is a change of government, it would be at the expense of the decision adopted by the new central Executive. In fact, an agreement of this type must go through the Council of Ministers twice, once to establish a general framework, with an execution calendar and definition of the project, and another through the Ministry of Finance after having approved the economic items. necessary and once compliance with the current legal framework has been ensured “This takes time,” the same sources confirm.
From Transport they admit that with a possible change of government everything could be left on paper, but they point out that then there will be a budget breach, since they are reserved items in the state accounts.
The protocol on the Ronda Nord “two months ago there was a closed text” and at the expense of the signature, according to sources from the Ministry of Transport, but the Government’s demand to attach another for the works committed to the budgets, “once the elections have been called “, they remember in the ministry, it has made it take longer than necessary.
In the case of the B-40, the Government plans to allocate 200 million for a road that the Government maintains should not be of high capacity, something that is not specified in the signed document. “It is not said that it is not high capacity,” they point out in Transport, but “everyone knows what a roundabout is. Has anyone seen a roundabout that does not have at least two lanes in each direction?”, question the same sources, which shows that the controversy will remain.
In the Government they consider that the discussion on the lanes that the Ronda Nord should have “is out of focus” because the important thing is that it serves to decongest traffic in urban centers, but “if we make ideology we will have a mess,” they warn.
Regarding the management tasks for the rest of the infrastructures, for which the Government agrees to transfer 914 million euros, both parties have agreed to allocate 384 million euros to update the C-32 in the Maresme; 250 million for the accesses of the AP-7 and the AP-2; for the highway of the Pyrenean axis, the N-260, which requires 260 million, and another 20 million will be devoted to new interchanges between the R8, of the Rodalies train network, with the Generalitat de Catalunya railway network.
Of all these works, the one that may have signs of execution earlier is the one referred to the AP-7, on which Transport believes that there could be a tender for some work already by the Generalitat, if all goes well, the next month of October.
After signing the protocols, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, highlighted the “importance” of these 914 million for the infrastructures of Catalonia. “We fulfill the commitments. Once signed, all parties must do their job,” he asserted. Minister Capella has spoken along the same lines, who has denied that the B-40 is going to be a high-capacity road and has urged the central government to transfer the money “in the fastest way” so that the Generalitat can execute the works and carry out the project, both for the B-40 and for the rest of the infrastructure. “The ball is in the court of the State Government,” she pointed out.
The Minister of Transport Raquel Sánchez was the one who announced the signing of the agreements on Thursday, which are an example of the “investment will” of the current Government in terms of infrastructure in Catalonia, he said, and pointed out the difficulties that have arisen along the way. Difficulties that show that “sometimes the Generalitat is more installed in noise than in working in technical tables”.
