Its causes are difficult to diagnose. low level of government investment Catalonia has become an endemic disease in recent years. According to analysis by Generalitat, General Government Intervention (IGAE)In recent years, investment execution in Catalonia has been around 60%, 10 to 15 points below the state average. However, in 2021 the percentage was groundbreaking, barely reaching 35.7% of what was budgeted, breaking all downward records both in the historic series and when compared to other autonomous communities. The average execution rate in the autonomous communities as a whole was around 70%, reaching 183 percent. Madrid, where the recovery of radial toll highways took place last year. Along with Catalonia, they also suffered an execution rate of less than 50 percent. Basque Country, Cantabria, Valencian Community, Andalusia and Asturias.
Of the 1,330m euro investment that the state failed to complete in Catalonia in 2021, slightly more than 1,000m corresponds to the publicly traded company that manages the railway infrastructures. ADIF. The remainder of the unrealized investment is, above all, State Portsinside Renfe-Operatorin public air navigation companies Enaire and at the national radioactive waste company Enresa. These five headquarters are the main culprits for the negligible execution of the Government’s investment in Catalonia in 2021. While in ministries and autonomous bodies, the executive in Catalonia exceeded 90%; in public companies (9 out of every 10 euros of state investment concentrated) this rate was only 27.3%.
Projects in the pipeline
While only 24% of the 707 million investments budgeted by ADIF in Catalonia were realized, approximately 540 million were not realized. In addition, from a budget of 492 million ADIF-High Speed, but 22 million were executed, 4.6% of the total. According to Alícia Cusart, director of infrastructures, one of the complaints from employers, organizations and institutions is that the data is not fragmented or detailed, which makes it impossible to track what should and is not done. Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. This is a criticism in which President Joaquim Llansó agrees. Chamber of Contractors of Catalonia d’Obres: lack of faults and hence transparency to follow.
The documents released by IGAE on Monday do not detail which work was done and which was left behind. However, it is clear that almost all of the 492 million projected investments for High Speed for Catalonia remain in the pipeline for the time being. These include: 126 million business lines; for 182 million Mediterranean Corridor; 22 million station bird from Girona airport 142 million programmed for it Railway section between Vandellós and Valencia.
Such a low level of execution has rekindled the clamor of politicians and businessmen in Catalonia who demanded a better performance of the State. Following criticism voiced by the economy’s ‘dealer’ on Monday, James Girogovernment spokesman, Patricia Beach, confirmed this Tuesday, that the data assumes a clear example of the “Government’s disrespect towards Catalans”. According to him, citizens living in Catalonia “do not deserve a state that abandons them”.
descriptions
But there are experts, senior officials and former senior officials, one way or another, they stop seeing a “black hand” They put forward and other types of arguments against Catalonia in the state. “The strictness of the Statute of Catalonia mandating that 18 percent of state investment be allocated to Catalonia makes it impossible for this amount to be absorbed each year, and projects may therefore be left unrealized repeatedly during the year”, risking the Generalitat’s lofty position. “Catalonia should consider having a few large projects agreed with the region or many small projects to be able to make the whole investment,” the same source says.
From his point of view, it is understandable that there are years of low practice, where the administration is particularly focused on the tendering of projects; In return, there must be others with extreme executions after these years.
That’s what could happen in 2021, according to ADIF. Last year was a year where two things happened: on the one hand, the ADIF group barely realized 16% of what it had planned to invest in Catalonia; On the other hand, 2021 was a record year for ADIF in terms of Catalonia’s auctions totaling 510m euros. These are projects that will be implemented within two or three years after their tender. Thus, the Ministry of Transport hopes that projects can progress at a higher rate this year. Among the projects in the portfolio; Barcelona airport accesses; watch replication between Parets and La Garriga; performances environment of Catalonia; seasons Sagrera and Sant Andreu; variant Tarragona-Vandelloi am a funeral Sant Feliu and Montcada and Reixac.
The Raquel Sánchez Department also highlights the following among the reasons that help explain the lower investment practice in Catalonia: social and political response for example, El Prat canceled the expansion of the airport. “As soon as a highway investment is announced, a platform for pros and cons immediately emerges. This does not hinder the execution of the project, but slows it down,” explains a ministry source graphically. To be exact, Minister Sánchez called for “thinking” on the necessary “conciliation in the region” when dealing with certain infrastructure projects.
In any case, the fact that the projects are not detailed prevents us from seeing that the investment rates are in Turkey. Rodians and accelerated the blockage removal work. Rail freight transport to Tarragona to the north or to work at the station Sagrera, in Barcelona, according to sources familiar with these projects. They also confirm this from the Chamber of Commerce.