The agreement sealed yesterday between the Government and the PSC after several weeks of tug-of-war, beyond the economic distribution in the games, contains several keys in an annex on infrastructure that includes the three major projects that the Socialists had demanded: the B-40, El Prat airport and the Hard Rock. In fact, the north round of Vallès has been the safe conduct that has allowed the understanding between both actors. The transfer of Esquerra was “a reversal” that if it had not occurred would have ruined the negotiation, according to Salvador Illa, leader of the PSC, said yesterday.
In this first quarter of 2023, a financing agreement will be agreed with the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda that guarantees the drafting of the infrastructure project that must connect Terrassa, Sabadell and Castellar del Vallès with Abrera, a route proposed in the Specific Pla of Mobilitat del Vallès and supported by local authorities. The execution will be in charge of the Generalitat. This option was already tried last year, but the Government planted the central Executive and the municipalities.
The expansion of the El Prat airport was considered in 2021 by the central government and Aena, but it remained in a drawer after the rejection of Esquerra. The game begins again and throughout this year a technical commission will work to close an agreement with the central Executive on “a new airport model”. The goal is for the infrastructure to “gain capacity and become an intercontinental hub.” By gaining capacity, the Socialists understand that the “expansion” is accepted, although the Republicans point out that this concept does not appear anywhere and that there is no mention of the Aena project. It will also be studied that the Generalitat forms part of the governance of the infrastructure, and that there is a high-speed rail connection with the Reus and Girona airports.
It is qualified, however, that it will be done with respect for biodiversity, the coexistence of neighbors and European environmental directives. In addition, in the protected space of the Llobregat delta, 49 million will be invested until the year 2026 to achieve a natural space with biodiversity, and a technical and sustainable agricultural system in the long term.
The pending procedures – already underway – of the Salou and Vila-seca Recreational and Tourist Consortium, better known as Hard Rock, will be completed. The urban director’s plan will be definitively approved during the first semester of 2023 and the availability of the land where the hotel and leisure macro-complex should be located will be maintained.
The execution of the works that are already underway to complete the Mediterranean corridor as it passes through the Camp de Tarragona is “assured”. This includes that there is standard gauge between Castellón and La Boella, and in the Tortosa branch; and mixed gauge at the Vila-seca and Castellbisbal junctions. In addition, a new rail access to the port of Tarragona will be built. A new electricity substation at the height of Mont-Roig will also be negotiated with the Government to respond to the industrial development needs of the Camp de Taragona.
The transfer of the economic resources necessary for the management of Rodalies will be agreed with the central government. This will be approved by the mixed commission on Economic and Fiscal Affairs, one of the bilateral bodies between the Government and the central Executive. This must be complemented with an update of the Rodalies Plan 2020-2030 that includes the whole of the Catalan railway system. Also included is the agreement with Renfe to acquire trains and improve those that already exist – the purchase of 97 new ones was signed in December, half to renew and the other to expand the fleet – as long as the Generalitat does not have an operator that can provide a comprehensive service. The agreement also includes the transfer of ownership of infrastructures that can be segregated from the railway network and necessary to provide the service.
In the field of health, the budget item will have 1,284 million more and 24% of the money received by the Department of Health will go to primary care, the most punished and stressed in recent years. There will also be improvements in hospitals and primary care centers, as well as 50 million to reduce waiting lists.
The Mossos d’Esquadra body will have 849 more agents, of which 600 will be deployed in the city of Barcelona.
The field of education will also have increases in various items, such as the 52.3 million more that there will be to cover the free second year of kindergarten, 58 million for the pact against school segregation and 100 million more for inclusive education, among others. Likewise, there will be 39 million more for educational concerts.
4,500 new residential places for the elderly and people with disabilities will be launched, with an increase of more than 100 million euros, and 108 million will be allocated to reduce waiting times in the assessment and access to the Dependency law.
