The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has made the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat Airport a priority and has announced that this Tuesday the Government will once again convene the meeting between the Generalitat and the Government so that in “three or four months” the technical proposals can be presented.
In an interview on TV3, the president stressed that he wants to “listen to the technicians” before making a decision, but he insisted that he also intends to “unblock” the expansion of the infrastructure so that the Airport can accommodate more intercontinental flights.
The expansion of El Prat has been blocked since 2021, when Aena presented a detailed dossier to the technical committee before various departments of the Government and city councils, in which it already quantified the effects in square metres, drew the plan of the works on the protected area and calculated the surface damage for the different conservation objectives of the natural area. The expansion of the runway to accommodate large aircraft affected the environmentally protected area of La Ricarda, which generated opposition from environmental parties and groups and halted the project.
Illa stressed that any proposal must be “environmentally rigorous” and, although he did not go into specific measures, he advocated “compensatory measures” and finding a “balance” between the environment and the expansion of infrastructure.
The president said that it will be the technicians who will have to present the best proposals for this infrastructure to be able to receive larger aircraft: “We cannot let this issue lie dormant or be put aside.”
Illa also defended the reform of Catalonia’s financing system agreed between PSC and ERC for his investiture, and urged Junts to say whether it is in favour or against the agreement for a new model that improves the community’s income. “I ask for a calm and relaxed debate and for no noise to be made,” he requested.
Source: www.eldiario.es
