The movements led by the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, in recent weeks with a view to positioning the Atlantic arc and demanding its place in Europe are not due to a specific situation, linked to high-speed connections with France, but to a deep concern regarding present and, above all, future risks. The feeling that the axis of economic activity and innovation in the European Union is shifting to the east is worrying, especially after Brexit, and the Basque leader intends to generate pressure in the medium term by focusing on high railway speed, the green hydrogen corridor, gas connections or innovation.
In Ajuria Enea, movements such as the Quiero Corredor summit, held in November in Barcelona, ​​with a thousand businessmen and the highest authorities of Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Murcia, demanding the leading role of the Mediterranean corridor, have not gone unnoticed. It is evident that, with all the nuances, the Mediterranean corridor is advancing. And the lehendakari’s reading is that the Atlantic arc must be positioned.
Urkullu led the meeting with the presidents of Galicia on March 13, Alfonso Rueda; Asturias, Adrian Barbon; and Cantabria, Miguel Ãngel Revilla. The four share this fear of losing relative weight and being out of focus, and they are determined to open this path of pressure -they spoke of the “Atlantic lobby”- and positioning that would be channeled through a macro-region. A week later, Urkullu sought a similar position at the meeting of the Euskadi-Navarre-New Aquitaine Euroregion. In these appointments, high speed has been discussed, but also green hydrogen highways, gas connections and the 5G map. In short, there is talk of connecting with the continent, preventing Europe from ending up, not just in the Bidasoa, but rather in the Garona.
The general secretary of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, Mikel Arieta-araunabeña, summarizes the concern that exists in part of the socioeconomic sphere. “We believe that the center of gravity of economic activity and innovation is shifting, globally, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and, within the European context, with the incorporation of new countries, the weight tends to shift more and more towards the East. We run the risk of becoming peripheral areas, â€he explains. From the Bilbao chamber they demand measures, since “today not only companies compete, but also geographical spaces to be more attractive in the global set”.
Mikel Arieta-araunabeña considers that the objective should be “to articulate a dynamic of camera collaboration from Porto to Aquitaine and even to the Loire Atlantique, to address these common challenges and build a more attractive and competitive space”, a line in which the cameras Basques plan to share dynamics.
One of the central issues in the two Urkullu events has been the high-speed rail connection with France. It is expected that, after innumerable delays, the railway ‘Y’ will link the Basque capitals by high speed starting in 2027, in an operation that would be meaningless without connections to Europe and the rest of the Peninsula.
Once the horizon to the south begins to clear, the problem is in the union with France. Macron’s government does not plan to undertake the Bordeaux-Dax section until at least 2042. Consequently, the trains that cross the Basque ‘Y’ will have to stop when crossing the Bidasoa, travel at reduced speed to Dax, and, from there, do it at medium speed to Bordeaux. The problem, beyond the times, is that, if nothing changes, saturation problems could occur in the old railway infrastructures in the border area.
The Basque ‘Y’ is designed for mixed transport of goods and people. Looking south, the load breaking point is in Jundiz (Ãlava). From there, a logistics platform would enable the transition to the conventional rail network or, where appropriate, to road traffic by means of trailers. In the direction of France, on the other hand, freight traffic may encounter problems in the border area, unless Macron makes a move.
The long-awaited Basque high speed could be inaugurated far from meeting expectations. David Hoyos, professor of Economics at the University of the Basque Country, goes further and points out that, although “technically” it will be able to transport goods, “it will not be viable for companies”, especially due to its cost and the problems in its connections. “The expected social benefits do not compensate for its high construction costs and the level of emissions that the work has required will not even be amortizedâ€, he indicates.
In his opinion, this infrastructure is far from being the multifunctional train that Basque society and its economy would have needed, as the premise of high speed has prevailed along the lines of the expansion of the AVE in Spain.
Basque Government sources, on the other hand, point out that the fact that it has been designed as a mixed infrastructure will multiply its options in the medium term, beyond the current situation of its links. A strength, they say, facing a future in which strategic positioning and connections are expected to be crucial.
