Addressing the potential of the Valencian Community in terms of infrastructure, in an autonomy with a strategically privileged geographical position, requires, first of all, to attend to the development of what is the great bet of the so-called circular Spain: the Mediterranean corridor . An axis that breaks radial Spain and that will be key in providing the Valencian productive fabric with greater competitiveness in the European market.
It is also an infrastructure encouraged, mainly, by Valencian civil society, by its businessmen, with the Valencian Association of Businessmen (AVE) as the driving force of a demand that has taken shape through the initiative
100% of the 1,800 kilometers of the Mediterranean corridor is already planned, 75% of the sections are under construction or have already been completed and 85% of the route already has an approved project. These are Adif data. Furthermore, AVE regularly audits the status of the works and does not hesitate to pressure to accelerate a double-track axis that must connect the ports of the Valencian Community, the other great strengths.
In fact, the ocean port of Valencia is already the main port in the southern Mediterranean and its importance will grow with the recent approval of the northern expansion that will consolidate it as the main gateway for goods in Spain. The ports of Castellón and Sagunt are added, this one as an entry and exit platform for an industrial center in which, among others, the future battery plant of the Seat-Volkswagen subsidiary, PowerCo, will be located. One more fact: the corridor will bring the cities of Valencia and Barcelona closer in time, the great pending issue.
But for them to be at full capacity, these infrastructures require the implementation of new infrastructures. The corridor must resolve the “plug” of Valencia, with the execution of the through tunnel; and must connect with the indicated ports as well as with the Ford logistics center in Almussafes. To these improvements, pending resolution, must be added the Sagunt-Teruel-Zaragoza railway connection and its connection with the Cantabrian corridor, built in 1910 and still only one track.
The freight connection with Madrid is currently operating at full capacity, even more so for passengers, with the incorporation of private operators such as Iryo and Ouigo, which compete with AVE and its low-cost version, AVLO. Also missing, as businessmen demand, are the expansions of the Valencia and Alicante-Elx airports, to respond to the passenger traffic that has increased dramatically due to the rise in tourism.
These are weaknesses that also include the need for a regional AVE and improving commuter trains, vital for the main Valencian metropolitan areas. Without a doubt, the reference of the corridor places this territory in the modernity of the great European axes, a commitment to the future for an economy that wants to play a key role in the development of Spain
