The budget pact in Catalonia between the ERC and the PSC has reactivated negotiations on the future of the Barcelona airport after months of paralysis. An unlocking that has been well received by the Ministry of Transport and that could speed up a solution for El Prat. The Government has already taken up the gauntlet and is willing to create a new technical commission, as stated in the agreement between the Catalan Republicans and Socialists, to study the increase in airport capacity.
“We are pleased that the Generalitat is willing to deal with this issue within the framework of a technical commission, something that we have been demanding for a long time,” they say from the ministry headed by Raquel Sánchez. Transport highlights that they have always been in favor of “improving El Prat airport so that it can become a true international HUB”. “At all times we have been willing to work together on a proposal that, like those raised above, makes the need for airport growth compatible with respect for the environment and the natural spaces surrounding the infrastructure,” they add.
The pact signed between the ERC and the PSC on the airport is ambiguous enough not to bother either supporters or opponents of the expansion. But it returns the issue to the field of political negotiation. The real will to reach an agreement will be reflected once the technical tables between the Generalitat and the Government proposed by the Catalan parties are established and held. In any case, Transport highlights that there is “sufficient time to reach an agreement”, since the eventual project for El Prat would be included in the next Airport Planning Document, starting in 2026.
The central government and the Generalitat reached an agreement to expand the Barcelona airport in August 2021, assuming the project presented by Aena. This included an investment of 1,700 million euros planned for the extension of the infrastructure. The pact came after weeks of negotiations and controversy over the environmental impact of Aena’s initial proposal, which would affect the space protected by the Natura 2000 network of La Ricarda.
But disagreements between the former partners of the Government, and ERC’s reluctance to expand the third runway, derailed the pact just a month later. The lawsuit was closed falsely. Catalan civil society continues to claim the need to improve connectivity in El Prat and the Foment employers’ association has created a commission to study possibilities.
However, any action on the airport requires the consensus of the central and Catalan governments. This is the point, which, they consider from the Ministry, can be unraveled now.
