“The Generalitat is investing in the south. Now we have no more excuses”

In the demarcation of Tarragona there are many realities. Cities with many inhabitants, small towns, tourism, industry, agriculture… Is your job difficult?

— I am very grateful and I enter this second mandate with a lot of responsibility, precisely because this supra-municipal administration can provide a lot of support to the town councils. The service provided by the Provincial Council to the town councils, especially the smaller ones, which have fewer financial and human resources, is very well received. It is one of the nice jobs in the local administration, being able to be in the Provincial Council of Tarragona. You can help a lot to improve people’s lives, through councils and also the social and productive fabric.

What are the great opportunities that the demarcation has and what are the challenges?

— We are located in a privileged enclave. And the social and productive fabric of this area is very powerful. Currently there are projects where the only thing we have to do is to contribute to them moving forward. There is also a good understanding between the different sectors we have, such as tourism and industry. And now we also need to find this balance with the primary sector. For the 50 years of the Union of Farmers, a very interesting debate took place between the three sectors, to see how they could collaborate with each other. It is one of the issues that needs to be explored further. We have gone a lot deeper with tourism and industry and now it is the primary sector’s turn.

The drought has made these differences more visible, hasn’t it? With very important restrictions on the primary sector and softer on tourism and industry…

— Correct. Yes, the question came up during the debate, but also the energy transition, the preservation of the landscape, the generational relief that farming needs in order not to abandon the land… We need to find this balance, which guarantees us sustainability. We must ensure that future generations have the same resources.

Balance between productive sectors, sustainability… this forces us to talk about Hard Rock. Does it seem like a sustainable project to you?

— It is a project that, in order to go ahead, must be sustainable. Now we need the relevant reports that are requested to carry out any activity of this magnitude. It will have to meet these requirements, which are increasingly demanding, in terms of environmental sustainability, but it will also have to be sustainable at an economic and social level. If the requirements are met, licenses are granted.

Could the situation be legal, but not sustainable?

— The requirements that are requested are those that the entrepreneurs who promote it will have to fulfill. Some economic sectors made a favorable manifesto and asked us to adhere to it. We didn’t do it, but we did make a statement supporting projects that are sustainable and that involve economic and social development of the territory.

One of the important topics that the Provincial Council of Tarragona has on the table is the creation of the Metropolitan Area of ​​Tarragona (AMT). The steering group was created in December. Why is the new us important?

— At the moment we are not talking about us. We don’t know if it will be an institution… we are still working on it. Be that as it may, the AMT is part of the government pact of the two main groups of the Provincial Council this term, which are ERC and the PSC. And then it was moved as a mandate plan. It’s a need that hasn’t quite been met and it’s worth trying again. It involves the municipalities of Camp de Tarragona, the Generalitat de Catalunya, which is part of the driving group, and the Regional Council of Baix Camp and that of Tarragonès. We sense that there are a number of relationships or dynamics that could be considered metropolitan. And to improve the lives of the people in this area, which we have yet to finish defining, we should have a unique city concept.

Can you give a specific example?

— Yes, the issue of transport is an example. We have created four tables that define the needs in which these municipalities sense that they should act in a metropolitan way: the territory commission, which deals with the way we plan at a territorial level, where the infrastructures should go, such as the intermodal station which will go between the ordinary network and the Mediterranean Corridor; there is also the mobility commission, which has TramCamp as one of its projects, which will revolutionize mobility in the territory, between the municipalities and also within them. Mobility also means better connecting inland-coastal municipalities. We’re letting a lot of opportunities go to waste because of bad connections, like students dropping out. There is also the sustainability commission, which deals with issues such as water. For example, having the planning of water resources that we have in this area, what is needed, along with the ACA, but also the whole issue of waste management. The municipalities have to think about this unique city as a whole and sometimes the decisions will not affect your municipality and other times they will. They will have to act very generously. It has been possible in other areas, such as Barcelona… There are also examples in the rest of the country and in Europe. Finally, there is the economic and social development commission, where issues such as sustainable energy and how to attract investment on a metropolitan scale are discussed… and also try to boost trade in the neighbourhoods. The first conclusions should reach us at the beginning of next year.

There are often mayors who defend only their plot… and there are also politicians who only get along with those who wear the same colors. Is it the challenge to overcome?

— In the driving group we have the regional councils, the Generalitat, the Provincial Council and the town councils. We have various colors, at least the majority, from Junts to the PSC and ERC. The biggest parties are present. This is to ensure that it can move forward regardless of whether there may be changes in the institutions. This representativeness has been sought. And, all this, to make it a more competitive territory, where there are opportunities for everyone and everyone has decent salaries without precariousness, and that commits to an economy committed to the environment, but also socially. And to have an economy that is spearheading on a Catalan scale.

Both the AMT and the TramCamp are two major projects and may be on track this term. Is it a key moment for demarcation?

— Yes, it is a very important moment. And we are very happy. And also that the Generalitat look to the south, which was one of our demands as a territory. That sometimes also served us as an excuse. But now there are no more excuses. Now there are investments and we have to be optimistic. We must take the reins of our territory and ask for those infrastructures that suit us. And now I am no longer talking about AMT, but about the territorial scope of the Tarragona County Council, which are ten counties of the Baix Penedès, the Camp de Tarragona and the Terres de l’Ebre. This territory and its people deserve the treatment they demand. It is necessary to preserve that there are no transfers between basins, that everyone has access to the minimum services… Therefore, a good network of physical and also telematic roads.

This is one of the haystacks to try to avoid depopulation. Currently in Tarragona we have the problem of depopulation in some towns?

— After the pandemic there was a certain revival and people prioritized the quality of life and being able to work from smaller municipalities electronically. So that people don’t leave these small towns, what we have to guarantee is that access. At school, at home…

I understand that this post-pandemic revival has stopped, right?

— We’re back a bit to the situation where we were…

That is, a trickle of population loss?

— Yes, especially in the inland towns, in very small municipalities that try to survive as best they can. We must contribute to breaking this trickle, with good fiber connections, access to basic school services, also collaborating with the maintenance of rural schools, ZERs, and housing. Because there are indeed empty homes in the towns, but they did not come out either on the rental market or on the purchase market.

Let’s talk about small owners…

— Yes, families whose ancestors lived there but left and the house is neither available for rent nor for sale. We help the councils so that they can acquire or rent them. It worked well enough. Many councils are welcoming it. There is also the issue of ATMs: the Generalitat has now got involved. It’s about being able to decide freely where to live and not having to leave because you lack the most basic. It suits us that there is this territorial balance because the big cities cannot take on so much population. Services cannot be provided if people are not well distributed.

We were talking before about the TramCamp, which in the first phase will connect Cambrils, Salou and Vila-seca. But the mayor of Salou has already said that he does not want it because he foresees that it will work with catenary.

— There are sections where it will go with a catenary and others that will not, wherever possible. But we have to think that this is economically sustainable. And that it has a frequency that makes it competitive, so that you don’t have to take the private vehicle. It must also be connected to Reus airport and the most populated districts of Tarragona.

Yes, this is the second phase and it seems well resolved, but the first phase has the rejection of the mayor of Salou. Have they talked to you?

— I believe that each municipality must defend what it considers for the municipality itself, but without jeopardizing the investment of the whole. If proposals are made and they can come to fit, go ahead, but if you see that to fit your individuality you can cause the whole to fail, you must be able to be generous enough for it to flourish.

Is there, this danger?

— I think not, I think it will go ahead because there are many more benefits than drawbacks.

Are we ready for the coming drought?

— I think we learned from previous years that because we stopped some investments, we are now paying the consequences. It is the mandate of water at country level and also of the Diputació de Tarragona, and we have demonstrated this by supporting specific projects such as the Espluga de Francolí, with more than 400,000 euros for the connection with the Consortium Aigües de Tarragona, or the Conca de Barberà Regional Council.