Two and a half months after he became president of the Port of Barcelona, ??Lluís Salvadó (La Ràpita, 1969) has exhibited excellent financial results for the institution, without precedent, which show the muscle it has to face new investments in a uncertain global context. While trying to defuse the controversy over the impact of the cruise ships and ensuring that his judicial situation (the Prosecutor’s Office has just requested six and a half years in prison for his participation in the preparations for the referendum on October 1, 2017) will not influence his work In front of the port, it works at a forced march in the preparations for the America’s Cup, which will be based in Port Vell and which has become the perfect incentive to accelerate actions that will largely remain for the city.
It was expected that the impact of the global crisis caused by the war in Ukraine could affect the performance of the port, but this has not been the case.
In the port world, 2022 has not been a good year. Barcelona is a particular case due to its diversification, which is its main strength. Some traffics have offset the structural falls of others. We have the most important regasification plant in Europe and, in a context in which natural gas has required a transformation of supplies to generate alternatives to Russia, traffic growth has been significant. Another example is electric vehicle imports from Asia, which have generated new traffic that did not exist before. The drop in activity with China has been somewhat offset by the United States. We are not a specialized port, we play all the keys. Thus, last year’s results were record both in billing, with 181 million euros, the best in our history, and traffic in tons, with 71 million, were also record. And we remain at 3.5 million containers when the rest of the ports have had significant decreases.
Are the infrastructures prepared for future growth?
The port has to adapt to changes in the maritime sector. For the period 2023-2025 we have presented an investment package of 300 million euros. Some have already been tendered, others will go out now. Three years from now we will have adapted the facilities to the new sizes of the boats. The lengths have changed and it will be necessary to redo docks, terminals, increase drafts with new dredging… All the material that is removed will go to the Catalunya dock, at the southern end. There, in the future, the APM container terminal will be moved, which will be able to improve the current infrastructures. BEST also continues to expand its facilities.
Can the Port of Barcelona now afford these investments?
Our treasury is 230 million euros and the debt is 124 million. This allows us to face this phase of deployment, updating, improvement, with our own resources. It is a privilege because today financing is not as cheap as it was a few years ago.
Will the extension of the ZEPA (special protection zone for birds) that the Generalitat foresees in the Llobregat area affect the new accesses to the port?
The version that has been put on public display of the ZEPA does not affect it at all. It is not an element that we have to worry about. The port has worked on this project with great precision, a lot of relationship and communication with the Acció Climàtica department. We do not anticipate any surprises in this regard.
When is this project, that of the accesses, so many times delayed?
Access is the big issue. In 2003 the port did not reach 3% of rail traffic. Today we are at 14%. What Barcelona has done in these years has not been done by any other Mediterranean port. But we cannot go further and we need the accesses to meet the decarbonization objectives. Soon we will take a step forward. There is a very constructive work with the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda and an absolute commitment from all administrations, the central government, the Generalitat and the Port Authority itself. We know that much time has been wasted. In 2020 the situation was managed to get back on track. And since then, the monitoring commission has been doing a very good job and the truth is that we are very optimistic. We need this 2023 to be a key year to specify the accesses.
The cruises are always the public debate. There is a discussion about whether they should be limited to reduce the inconvenience and pollution they generate. Mayor Ada Colau has been raising it for a long time. What is your position?
The cruise industry is an important sector for the port of Barcelona and the opinion of the people of Barcelona is also important. We need to fit the two visions. It is an economic activity that generates added value, but also some negative externality that provokes a rejection in a sector of the citizenry. Next month we will shape a work plan shared with the sector. We perceive a clear desire on their part to improve. We have spoken with the companies, they are very keen. If certain spaces in the city become congested, we have to eliminate this congestion. The city has many places to visit. We don’t want cruise companies to use Barcelona, ??but rather to take root in the city, in its economic fabric, with its suppliers, in civil society… It’s a job that can’t be done in two days, but we want to give it a boost. The port has the responsibility of leading the management and we want to assume this role.
Cruise ship activity has recovered, but it is still far from what it was before the pandemic.
2022 closed with 2.3 million cruise passengers when in 2019 there were 3.1 million. We are in moderate numbers. The forecast is that in 2023 there will be stability, perhaps with a small increase. Therefore, it does not make sense to generate a sensation of massification. I insist, we have to do the work with the sector, which is very receptive, it is time to do it.
Have you met with the mayor?
Not with her, but with the deputy mayor Janet Sanz, who is the person we have on the board of directors representing the City Council.
Would the fact that there are more cruise ships choosing Barcelona as their base port and fewer stopovers, which are those that spend a few hours in the city, improve the perception of this activity?
Yes, this is our goal. To the extent that Barcelona is a leader in cruises and has, unlike other Mediterranean ports, first-line terminals that are well above others, we will position ourselves as a base port, a condition provided by cruise passengers who generate the most value for the city ??and for Catalonia.
Would improving the capacity of El Prat airport help? What do you think of its extension, which is in full debate?
Cruise ships drag and generate critical mass that later allows intercontinental flights to consolidate. The opening of new lines is done because there is a demand. Not the other way around. We are not going to get into an infrastructure where we have no responsibilities. But it is evident that the port and the airport have very important synergies, they are absolutely matched and both reinforce the country’s business competitiveness.
Beyond cruise ships, the port’s relationship with the city has a series of projects, some of which are already underway. Is the celebration of the Copa del América next year going to accelerate them?
Indeed. The America’s Cup has accelerated projects that were already in our strategic plan and have been rescheduled so that they can be completed before it is held. There will be a very important qualitative leap in the area of ??Port Vell before April 2024 with the opening to the public of two new spaces. One, on the dock in Barcelona, ??around the World Trade Center. And the other, the Pescadors wharf, where new facilities are being installed. Soon we will present some twenty actions, some public, others private, related to this event, but which were already planned and represent an investment of between 50 and 60 million. For example, the rehabilitation of the Portal de la Pau building, which is a long project that will be awarded shortly. For the America’s Cup we will try to have the first phase ready, the façade. We will stop works and then we will do the interior to, from 2026, face its content. It will house the planned outreach and dissemination center.
And the rehabilitation of the old sheds next to the Vela marina?
Also. There are three historical buildings with relevant value. They will be used for the America’s Cup and later we have to see what uses we give them, whether cultural, personal or open to the public… We are analyzing different options.
What will be done with the site where the Hermitage was planned?
The concession will end in April and from then on it will also be assigned to the Copa del América. But, at the same time, we have to reflect, without haste, on what we do in this space. It is a unique parcel in the port and I would dare to say that also in the whole city. We must find a powerful, attractive, driving project that generates consensus.
Do you have a preference on whether it has to be a cultural or other activity?
We will analyze all the options and try to choose the one that gives the most added value to the public and to Barcelona in general, of course in dialogue with the different administrations. We are aware that it is a privileged place and that it must be decided without haste.
And in the dock of Espanya?
A comprehensive reform is being carried out in two phases. The first, also facing the Copa del América. The Cinesa cinemas are demolished, the Maremàgnum shopping center is scheduled to be refurbished and later the space where the Liceu will be located will be renovated, in the old Imax.
The Liceu Mar project, on the other hand, has not accelerated.
We have made ourselves available to the Liceu, but this space will not act until after the Copa del América. There will be one of the bases.
Will the maritime connection of the different docks of Port Vell be made?
It must be a concession that a private company will have to exploit. We still do not have enough information on whether this formula will be ready before or after the Copa del América. We would like it to be earlier. In any case, during the celebration there will be an internal nautical bus. I would also like to highlight that we are working rapidly so that the entire port has a 5G connection for the America’s Cup. We are tight on calendars but we hope to achieve it. It will be needed for communications, but it is also important for port activity. We want to be at the forefront of technology and we have just announced a five million investment in Portic, which is our internal communication tool.
The number of projects related to the America’s Cup is incredible.
Yes. And we have to have everything ready. This April we will deliver the spaces with the necessary services for the different teams to build their bases, which will be temporary facilities. We are going to forced marches.
Will this celebration also drive the electrification of the docks?
No. The electrification of the docks comes from community directives. The ports of Europe are obliged to have a part of our activity already electrified before 2030. It is a global challenge in which we are all involved, not just Barcelona. We have the first two connections, one under construction at the BEST terminal and another under tender at the ferry terminal, with a joint investment of 10 million euros. Both are with the current network. To do more we need a new electrical substation that we will tender at the next board of directors. It is a fundamental action that will allow the deployment of a new electrical network. In the first quarter we will also tender the connection of the Energia wharf with the Adossat, where the cruise terminals are. It is a complex operation, you have to lower the connections to 30 meters deep. The works will have a term of execution of a couple of years. We will be able to make a qualitative leap with the aim that in 2026 a large part of our facilities can be electrified. In a few years the port of Barcelona will generate very few emissions for the city, especially the cruise sector.
Do you think the image that the port is a very polluting element of Barcelona and the metropolitan area is unfair?
It is quantified. 6.9% of NOx emissions come from the port. Our job is for this to plummet in three or four years, for it to be drastically reduced. I am convinced that we will do it well above other modes of transport. When the boats arrive at the pier, they will stop their engines and connect to the network. Earlier this year, the goal is for 20% of cruise ships to consume liquefied natural gas. And the intention is that every year it will be more.
(On Friday, while this interview was taking place, Lluís Salvadó was informed of the request by the Prosecutor’s Office for six years and three months in prison for a crime of aggravated embezzlement for his actions in the preparations for the referendum on October 1, 2017 and the so-called State structures when he was secretary of Hisenda of the Generalitat under the direction of the then vice president Oriol Junqueras).
Could your judicial situation alter your work in front of the Port?
Obviously it is an aspect that worries me. But it is not a sudden situation. After six years, when I had the privilege of accepting the presidency, I was aware of what it meant and I was very clear that it would not affect my two hundred percent dedication to the Port of Barcelona, ??that I could fully carry out these functions without any type of interference.
