Last year the Community of Madrid and the Generalitat became, together with the public operator of the railway network Adif, the main public works contractors in Spain. The two autonomous governments doubled their work visas, but the amounts committed by one and the other are far from similar. Madrid activated 52% more resources in volume than Catalonia.
The Community of Madrid tendered works for 2,291 million euros between January and November 2022, 111% more than a year earlier. The data is offered by the employers Seopan and, with a month to go before the exercise, they already offer a clear overview of how the distribution of forces is throughout the year. The tenders of the Generalitat de Catalunya amounted to 1,502 million euros, 104% more than in 2021.
The list of the big bidders in Spain includes ministries, town halls, public companies and regional governments. At the forefront of all, ahead of Madrid and Catalonia, is a public company, Adif, which was used to the full during the year with contracts for 3,155 million euros to expand high speed, bury sections or improve stations. In cumulative terms, 2022 adds 26,368 million euros in tenders in the absence of a month, 26% more.
In the territorial distribution it is difficult to draw conclusions beyond the regional effort because there are 6,837 million euros of works tendered by the State and its companies that are not broken down geographically. The same occurs with the 10,375 million invested by large cities, town halls or councils. At most, it is known that the State tendered 1% more and the municipal corporations, 29% more.
After the Community of Madrid and the Generalitat, the next in the regional classification is the Junta de Andalucía, with 883 million euros and a decrease of 11% in contracting, ahead of the Basque Government, which has sealed works for 774 million, 54% more. They are followed by the Valencian Generalitat, with 748 million, 33% more. At the tail is the Government of the Region of Murcia, with just 94 million.
As for public companies, none shadows Adif. Puertos del Estado, which has a plan to invest 4,700 million euros in Spanish ports in five years, is in second position, with 443 million, 44% more than in 2021. Behind it is the airport operator Aena, with 322 million, 27% less. The General Directorate of Highways has made tenders for 909 million, 15% less.
To keep track of public money, a good tool is the State Contracting Platform, where all contracts are registered and where it can be seen that the highest are actually those for services, and not those for works.
In 2022, a service contract, that of Muface for health care for civil servants, valued at 3,521 million euros, has been the largest, followed by the collection of waste in the city of Madrid, of 1,369 million, and the contract of electricity from Adif, of 1,322 million. Renfe has dedicated 483 million to buy trains and the Canal de Isabel II, 509 million to change pipes.
In the chapter on construction works, the largest of those published in a unitary way in the State Contracting Platform in 2022 has been the burying of the R2 railway line at the height of Montcada i Reixac, whose unit cost amounts to 513 million of euros. If all the rail corridors are added, including the Mediterranean one, Adif expects to invest 9,000 million euros in the coming years.
Despite the fact that Adif and Renfe stand out as public contractors, Seopan data shows that, in terms of works, highways continue to generate higher spending than rail. In the data for 2022, road tenders reached 3,929 million euros, compared to 3,885 million for railways. A territorial breakdown is not offered here either.
The construction of sanitary facilities monopolized tenders for 1,986 million euros, compared to 1,533 million euros for treatment plants and desalination plants. Among the works to which less effort has been devoted are waste treatment, despite community warnings in this area. The game barely reaches 140 million euros. Instead, there have been 988 million for sports facilities.
