The Chamber of Contractistes d’Obres de Catalunya (CCOC) has asked the future government of the Generalitat to promote a major political agreement on basic infrastructure between the different parliamentary groups to agree on which are essential and plan the investment and execution over a period minimum of 15 years.
Lluis Moreno, the president of the CCOC, presented this morning the report on the first quarter tender, in which there was a 1% decline on the previous year’s levels, which were already low, and he has demanded from the administrations a effort to “reinforce public investment and correct the accumulated deficit in Catalonia”, and to commit to “public-private collaboration to achieve the country’s objectives.”
Among the challenges that, in the opinion of the Chamber, should concentrate the investment effort are the railway, fulfilling the 2020-2030 commuter plan and the Mediterranean Corridor; the expansion and improvement of roads, especially the widening of the C55 from Castellvell and Vilar to Manresa and the fourth lane of the AP7; the expansion of the airport with the lengthening of runway 06L24R, the construction of the satellite terminal and the underground connections and the airport city and works to ensure water self-sufficiency and the fight against drought and electrical self-sufficiency.
According to data from the Chamber, the public works tender in the first quarter of the year has reached 715.6 million euros, with a decrease of 1% compared to the first quarter of 2023, and 14.3% compared to the first quarter of 2023. fourth quarter of 2023.
By Administrations, the local one (municipalities, regional councils and provincial councils) was the most active, with 44% of the entire tender, despite reaching only 315.2 million euros, less than half of the 834.6 million euros, at the climax of the electoral cycle of these administrations.
The Generalitat, for its part, tendered 226.3 million euros, 31.6% of the total with an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. The General State Administration tendered only 9.5% of the total, with works worth 67.8 million euros and a decrease of 47% compared to the previous year.
By organizations, Infraestructures.cat was the most bidding organization in the first quarter, with 101.4 million euros, followed by Fira 2000 and the Barcelona Education Consortium with 83.6 and 70.8 million euros respectively.
In the first quarter, public administrations put out to tender 131 works in Catalonia co-financed by Next Generation European funds, for an amount of 184.1 million euros, which represents 25.7% of the quarterly tender, according to data from the CCOC. European funds financed 23.4% of the works in 2023, so there has been a “slight rebound.”
The importance of these funds, in a context of future budgetary limitations for the public sector due to EU fiscal rules, led contractors to demand “public-private partnerships (PPPs), to achieve maximum efficiency in the management of European funds.” ”, accelerate its implementation and be able to meet the deadlines set by Europe.
