Pedro Sánchez confirmed this Friday the investment of 2.4 billion to expand the Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas airport. The statement was made on the occasion of the visit of the President of the Government to Fitur, the international tourism fair that is being held in the capital these days.
The airport manager Aena has been working for some time on the project that seeks to expand terminal 4, terminal 4-S and terminals 1, 2 and 3. The first works have even already begun. The Chief Executive explained that this is “the largest investment in a decade in airport infrastructure in Spain” with the aim of expanding capacity from the current 70 million travelers to 90 million, Sánchez stated.
Specifically, the plan of the company chaired by Maurici Lucena involves adding 100 new counters to T4, extending the docks, as well as expanding the aircraft parking apron. In T4S, the objective is for the dike area to grow by 400 meters along with a global reconfiguration of the security filters. The first three terminals, for their part, will be renamed “T123” and will be a “processor”, in the words of the president of Aena, where the first passenger check-in procedures will be carried out. Additionally, a large photovoltaic plant will be built on the premises.
While the Government and Generalitat of Catalonia have just set up a commission to study the expansion of the El Prat airport, Sánchez has assured that Barajas is “the airport with the greatest growth potential in Europe, a project that seeks to consolidate Spain as a world power in the tourism”.
The investment will translate, Sánchez stated, into strong growth in passengers and routes, the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, and the strengthening of the hub as a connection center with Latin America and Asia.
Barajas, at this moment, can receive about 70 million passengers a year, but it is reaching the limit of its capacity. The objective with the expansion is to reach the aforementioned 90 million travelers. All this spending is expected to be executed from the DORA (airport planning document) 3, starting in 2027.
The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, had advanced this week that among the important challenges of his department during this legislature is “the execution of the expansion plans for various airports”, among which Barajas and El Prat stand out. Regarding the Barcelona airport, Puente stated that the Government’s proposal involves extending the runway closest to the sea to avoid minor problems for residents and reduce the environmental impact.
“Regarding the expansion project of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, we will continue working to achieve the necessary institutional consensus and ensure that this airport becomes a first-level intercontinental hub,” said the minister.
Iberia has described Sánchez’s confirmation of the investment in Barajas as “excellent news.” The president of the IAG group airline, Fernando Candela, has assured that, together with the acquisition of Air Europa by his holding company, they form the two necessary conditions for Madrid to be an infrastructure that “plays in the first European division.”
Sánchez has highlighted the potential of tourism as an engine of the Spanish economy. 84 million visitors arrived in the country in 2023, mainly through airports. A record number of tourists who, in addition, spent 108,000 million, also the highest figure in the historical series.
Sánchez has also highlighted the EPA data known today, highlighting the creation of more than 780,000 jobs or the reduction of temporary employment, among other aspects, “despite the difficult economic context and the bad omens of the prophets of the apocalypse.”
