The negotiation on the future of the Barcelona airport returns to the political level after more than a year in deadlock, but by no means starts from scratch. During this time, political parties and civil society have sought advice from technical consultants, have shared information and have provided alternatives to Aena's initial project (extend the third runway 500 meters to La Ricarda lagoon) to take positions in a debate that was closed. false in September 2021. The proposals proliferate and have returned to be shared with intensity after the budget pact between the ERC and the PSC. But among all of them, two have generated greater interest because they have greater possibilities of prospering, confirm the sources consulted. Both from the technical and budgetary point of view and consensus on a possible expansion of the airport, which would be added to that of Aena.
The first was commissioned in 2021 from within the Department of Territory, then in the hands of JxCat. It is not an official proposal from the previous heads of the department, but officials from Territori began to pull strings to propose a different proposal to that of Aena that would allow the expansion and minimize the impact on La Ricarda. A way, they considered then, to try to get the Republicans to support the expansion and park the ambiguities. This study has served as a basis for other groups, especially in business circles, to maintain the request for extension, convinced that there are options for extension, and thus they have transferred it to ERC and PSC circles.
This technical analysis proposes extending the third track (the one that faces the sea) 200 meters towards La Ricarda and 100 meters towards El Remolar, without affecting the lagoons, but it does affect the natural area protected in the Natura 2000 Network. It would include, yes, a signaling to lengthen the take-off surface of aircraft. In this way, says the report – to which La Vanguardia has had access – the airport's capacity could be increased (90 operations per hour) by maintaining the current runway system –segregated, with one runway for landing and another for taking off– and without causing further acoustic disturbance.
With this alternative in the pipeline, JxCat and ERC agreed at the meeting they held in Vall d'en Bas on September 4, 2021 –after Pere Aragonès questioned the agreement that the Generalitat had just closed with the Ministry of Transport– to set La Ricarda lagoon as a red line for any action at the airport. "This was the pact, not to accept anything that reached the lagoon, but it was assumed that part of the protected area would be affected," explain sources involved in that negotiation.
The proposal that was commissioned from within Territori met that condition, the respondents point out, and was presented informally to ERC members. Still, a definitive pact was missing.
Another of the alternatives that has been debated the most by both political parties and civil society proposes extending the third runway 350 meters only towards La Ricarda (without touching El Remolar) also without touching the lagoon. This proposal, however, implies limitations in the operation of the airport. Some of the largest aircraft could not take off from it under certain environmental conditions, so the operation could not reach 90 operations per hour every day. The document, which this newspaper has also been able to consult, has also been presented to members of the ERC and the PSC, without assuming its content as their own.
The PSC supported the project of Aena and the Ministry of Transport, although it has shown itself willing to return to studying the future of the airport in the technical tables that have been summoned with Aragonès and to which the central government has already welcomed. However, the Republicans have also been advised during this time to face the El Prat debate. A few months ago ERC asked Miquel Puig, current secretary of Afers Econòmics i Fons Europeus del Govern, to gather information on the situation of the Barcelona airport and issue his opinion on the matter. "I have provided a work methodology to prepare a proposal," says Puig. This consists – indicates Puig – in asking a question: “Barcelona needs an infrastructure to improve the intercontinental air connection. What can be done to achieve this without generating more acoustic disturbance to neighboring populations and with better protection of ecosystems? "The answer is complicated," admits Puig. Hence, he proposes creating a scientific-technical commission to analyze and make proposals, without politicians or civil society. Once the analysis is finished, "politicians have to decide which is the best option among the proposals." We will have to wait, yes, for the municipal elections to take place.
