Balance between public and private

July 2 1969 saw three motorways open in Catalonia. Up until then, the idea of the toll road was unheard of in our country as well as in Spain. The network was vital because, the Spanish government was unable to implant an infrastructure that could help Catalonia to continue to grow, and the private sector had to lead the way. From those far-off days, this system has been the same. If Catalans need for public works with an economic impact to make transport easier without being stifled in the process, we have had to do it ourselves. Or, trust that the state will take action, but that means resigning ourselves to spending waiting years before the work is completed. The Barcelona AVE terminal is an excellent example of this sad reality.

Autonomy allowed us to make some advances because we have an administration, the Catalan, which looks after the interests of our country. Catalonia has always been a place of private initiative or, better still, a country where the collaboration between the private and public, works. Tired of waiting for the Spanish government, the Port of Barcelona and the government of Catalonia have decided to promote a public railway-highway linking the port facilities with the rest of Europe. The infrastructure will transport driverless lorries, a formula which is already working successfully in other countries. The idea is that Barcelona will connect with Paris in 2019 and Germany in 2020, and we can only hope that over time the state does not decide to throw a spanner in the works in the name of equality and territorial equilibrium.