News, December 2007

Catalan infrastructure crumbling.

August... October. In 1992, at the opening of the Olympics, Barcelona could boast Spain's best urban infrastructure. Now it is believed it would not be granted the games on the present record. Every day trains are delayed or cancelled - including services to and from the airport, long jams occur at toll gates on the motorways out of town and in August an electricity substation fire blacked out much of the city for several days. Local politicians blame the central governments of the past 15 years for hardly spending a cent on Catalan infrastructure since the Games.

It must be said that by comparison with Madrid the politicians may have some argument, but compared with other major European cities, perhaps Barcelona is not doing that badly. Indeed, the cause of the rail delays is largely due to work being done on rearranging the main Sants station for the arrival of the AVE high speed rail line from Madrid, together with the final leg into the city from the south. Work was intensified over the summer so that testing could be done ahead of the hoped start of services at Christmas. Difficulties are, of course, intensified by the fact that AVE uses standard European gauge, as opposed to Spanish wide gauge. This is currently not particularly helpful, but the rail link is already under construction from Sants (or rather, the north of the city) to Perpignan, although controversy over the tunnel route under Barcelona, passing within metres of the foundations of the Sagrada Familia church, mean that the full link-up with still take time.

The fire which caused the blackout in early August was perhaps more serious in that it highlighted the absence of investment by power companies more concerned with their bottom line and resisting take-over bids than in investing for the growing demand of 21st century life. At least the seriousness of the blackout alerted politicians to the need for compulsory investment projects.

Meanwhile, on the roads there is a problem of Barcelona's geography, being surrounded by mountains and satellite cities. There remains little space to build the roads and rail lines which the city needs. And the extension at Barcelona's El Prat airport is also well advanced, although while we await completion it is evident that the current 1992 extension is now totally inadequate for the era of budget flying.

Travellers are advised to allow plenty of time to negotiate Barcelona, particularly if they have a flight to catch!

By comparison, Madrid's metro has seen the opening of several new 'light' lines (more like trams) and the extension of most other lines over the past 18 months. For most readers, the key link is to the new Airport terminal 4. Likewise, over the past 5 years 'yet another' ring road has opened, plus 5 new toll radial routes doubling capacity in and out of the city.