Aena hires Ramon Tremosa, former Junts director who accused the company of “blackmailing” Catalonia and giving it “colonial” treatment

The company Aena incorporates the former deputy of Junts per Catalunya Ramon Tremosa as a director. The appointment was announced at the presentation of the results of the company , the only one of the Ibex 35 listed companies with a majority of public capital (51%), and appears together with the proposal for the re-election of the directors Javier Marín, Jaime Terceiro, Amancio López and Juan Río. Tremosa was the Business Director of the Generalitat during the government of Quim Torra and made forceful statements about Aena's management of the Spanish airport network and, in particular, the treatment received by the Barcelona-El Prat airport. In parliament, Tremosa publicly accused Aena of imposing a "unilateral blackmail" and of giving "colonial" treatment to Catalonia.

Tremosa has had a long political career, linked to Convergència and Junts, but last month he resigned from his position as a councillor in Barcelona citing professional reasons. The former Business Councillor, who had previously held a seat in the European Parliament, is an economist and has always aligned himself with the most liberal positions and those closest to the business sector. A position that did not help him avoid the criticism generated by his election as councillor . The organisation Empresaris de Catalunya, which is against independence and brings together more than 500 Catalan businesspeople, self-employed people and company executives, regretted his appointment and pointed out that “his main merits are his loyalty to Puigdemont and a political career plagued by radical and unconciliatory actions and statements”.

Tremosa has come out in favour of the expansion of Barcelona airport, despite the controversy that the works would generate, due to their environmental impact on the Llobregat delta. He has publicly defended the convenience of moving the protected wetlands to land that is further away from the runways. A year ago, in a speech in the Parliament, he defended the need for the Catalan Government to participate in the management of the airports of Barcelona-el Prat, Girona and Reus, “to promote the airport system of Catalonia”. Tremosa maintained that the central Government and Aena have harmed the interests of the airports of Catalonia. “The Catalans do not want to be Terminal 5 of Barajas”, he stated in his speech.

“I am pleased with the addition of a person [Ramón Tremosa] of whom I have a good technical and professional opinion, and I also like Ramón Tremosa’s personal tone. He will join the board as an individual. In other words, no political party will join,” observed Maurici Lucena. “Tremosa will be an independent director of a listed company and that entails enormous responsibility and a single objective: his duty will be to defend the company’s corporate interest and the debates are very limited,” reports Javier Fernández Magariño. In response to a question from this newspaper, the president of Aena explained that “neither now nor in the seven years that I have been president of Aena, I am not aware that he has thought about changing the management system of the airports in the network. This is a model that works very well.” On previous occasions, Lucena had also referred to Aena’s listed status and the importance of the Catalan asset as the second Spanish airport in terms of passenger traffic.

The expansion of El Prat airport is an issue that Salvador Illa's government is tackling as a priority. In 2021, Aena halted at the last minute an announced investment of 1.7 billion euros to expand Barcelona's airport infrastructure, including a new satellite terminal, due to a sudden disagreement with the Catalan government, then in the hands of ERC. Although Junts has not shown frontal opposition to the project, the incorporation of Tremosa is interpreted as a move by Aena to forge complicities with pro-independence circles.