The arrival of European funds has led to a golden two-year period for the construction sector in Spain, as recognized by Julián Núñez, president of the employers' association Seopan. Until November, public administration tenders for works have reached 25,310 million euros, 1.9% more than last year, which was already a record year. "December was also a month with an important tender, so that 2023 will be a year similar to 2022, which was already a very good exercise", points out Núñez. In 2022, works worth 30,074 million euros were tendered, 27.9% more than in 2021, when there was almost no such extraordinary support from Europe.
The Next Generation EU funds have financed 12.3% of the works tendered this year, in contrast to the 12% they accounted for in 2022. Until November, works for 3,043 million euros have been tendered with European funds , 84% of which corresponded to projects of the General Administration of the State (2,549 million), while 238 million corresponded to the municipalities and 211 million to the local administrations.
The impact of European funds explains why the General Administration of the State has led tenders in 2023: until November it tendered works for 9,389.9 million euros, 40.7% more compared to the same period in 2022 , while that of the autonomous communities was 6,969.2 million (18.9% less) and that of local administrations, 8,950.9 million (6.5% lower).
In total, Núñez points out, from 2019 to November 2023, these funds have financed works worth 11,111 million (around 8,000 million euros excluding renovations). "It is a significant amount, but far from that of other countries such as Italy, where there have been 50,000 million", he points out. In this period, Adif has been the main investor with European funds, with 63% (6,996 million euros). Consequently, these funds have mostly financed railway infrastructure (49% of the total), terminals (11.2%) and roads (8.2%). The deadline for tendering works accepted for these grants closed in December, so that in 2024 it will no longer have this incentive.
"Many of the works tendered in 2023 will be awarded and contracted this year, so activity in the sector will still remain high", recalled Núñez, who considered that 2024 will therefore be "an exercise of transition", and warned of a change of scenery from 2025. "In 2024 there will be no reduction in public investment, but from 2025 the European funds will have run out and the budgets will begin note the EU's demand for more fiscal discipline".
Seopan, Núñez explained, advocates deepening public-private collaboration formulas, such as concessions, to maintain public investment and increase social spending, and thus also fulfill the European commitment to fiscal consolidation.
Along these lines, he is also advocating for the recovery of pay-for-use formulas for the motorway network. "In 23 EU countries there are pay-for-use formulas on high-capacity roads. In Portugal and Greece, 100% of the motorway network is toll, and in Italy and France, 80%", he recalled. In his opinion, payment for use will have to be applied from 2027, when the EU obliges the professional transport sector to join the CO2 emissions market. But according to him, formulas should be applied that affect all kinds of users and that allow the maintenance of the road network to be financed.
The construction industry estimates that there is an investment deficit in maintenance of more than 2,000 million euros a year. According to Núñez, adequate maintenance of the motorways and roads would require investing 3,600 million euros a year: 1,500 million for the central administration, 1,500 million for the autonomous regions and 600 million for the councils. However, until November the public administrations have only tendered maintenance works for the road network for 1,713 million euros. In addition, he recalled, "it is not only necessary to invest in maintenance, but charging stations for electromobility must be built".
