The employer Foment del Treball has put on the table eleven possible solutions to facilitate the increase of long-haul flights at Barcelona airport, an objective shared by the Generalitat, the central government and civil society, but on which there is there are deep discrepancies regarding the way to achieve it.
Among the ten options that an interdisciplinary commission has analyzed for more than a year, four are considered more viable. And among these four, the one that stands out is to extend the third runway by 840 meters towards the east, raising it over the Ricarda lagoon by means of a platform. This formula has been contributed by the same members of the commission, chaired by Lluís Moreno, the results of which were presented yesterday in an event at the Foment headquarters, and has already met the total rejection of the port of Barcelona because it considers that it puts infrastructure activity at risk.
The employer insisted that it does not prioritize this option above the rest, but the report points out that extending the third runway by 840 meters would make it possible to have a take-off length of 3,500 meters in total, and thus all the planes currently on the market they could use it in any wind and temperature conditions with maximum load. "It seems that the most appropriate proposals are either an extension" of the sea runway "either to the east by 300 or 840 meters, or to recover the independent runways", he emphasizes. "Obviously, from an operational point of view, the option of 840 meters to the east guarantees a configuration of pure segregated tracks", he continues.
This option also affects the Ricarda protected area, which is why it is proposed to pass over it "without destroying it" by means of a structure elevated over the lagoon, 300 meters long by 200 meters wide. The construction system would be similar to the one proposed with the track over the sea, but with the length of pylons much shorter. With this option, says the analysis, an attempt is made to optimize the existing variables to improve the Prat's capacity (airport conditions, environmental conditions, noise, biodiversity and economic cost).
It also raises the embankment solution with permeable material. The runway would rise to a level of 6 meters (it is currently at a level of 3.26 meters) and would leave a free space above the water sheet of between 1.6 meters and 2.5 meters. Either way, he would need the go-ahead from Brussels. In this sense, they propose a series of environmental compensations. The ecological memory of the report explains that certain areas of the Llobregat delta are "degraded" and they are committed to creating a new wetland in the Philippines - it would be necessary to expropriate agricultural land -, in addition to regenerating the waters and the biodiversity of Ricarda through various performances.
He does not specify, however, the economic cost of this initiative, but estimates that it would exceed by 200 million euros Aena's proposal to extend the embankment runway by 500 meters (extending the runway would entail 263 million of the total of 1,700 million of the entire project, which includes the construction of a satellite terminal). However, he admits that the impact on the port of Barcelona should be assessed if the runway increases by 840 metres.
It is not a trivial matter. The conflict is being served, as the president of the port, Lluís Salvadó, from ERC, was responsible for proving. The port authority considers that this proposal compromises the "present and future" of the infrastructure, because bringing the take-offs of large planes further east would prevent new activity from the port to the south and the work of the tallest cranes. Salvadó conveyed these arguments directly to the president of Foment, Josep Sánchez Llibre, in a forceful letter sent on October 20.
Extending the runway in this way "makes it impossible" to operate the current container terminal at Moll Prat, and the future transfer of the second container terminal to the future Moll Catalunya, emphasized Salvadó. He even described it as "serious" that Foment included this proposal "despite being repeatedly informed by the port of Barcelona of these serious potential impacts". The employer declined to assess the letter.
To identify the most feasible solutions, the Public Works Commission has evaluated eleven parameters – airport and air operations, economic, environmental or political and acoustic costs, among others. Those that get the best score are those already mentioned: extending the runway 300 meters to the east, one hundred meters to the west and 200 meters to the east, returning to the use of independent runways, and that of extending 840 meters. The initial Aena (500 meters) is immediately next, followed by the runway over the sea promoted by Joaquim Coello, diverting flights to the airports of Reus and Girona and extending the diagonal runway towards the sea.
The last options are to build two new parallel runways towards the sea and to build a new airport, either in the area of Vilafranca del Penedès or in Anoia. All, with the exception of the 840 meter option, have been advanced by La Vanguardia. However, the report does not go into the management of the Prat, a historical demand of the Generalitat.
In any case, it is up to the central and Catalan governments to find the optimal solution, pointed out Sánchez Llibre. For the president of Foment, Catalonia cannot afford to turn its back on the extension of its airport.
The employer has sent the report to all administrations and political groups, as well as social agents, convinced that it will help to agree on a position that makes the expansion possible. "It's now or never".
