The long road to expansion

Few projects like the expansion of Barcelona Airport combine so many economic, environmental, technical, and political constraints. That's why the negotiations between the Generalitat (Catalan Government) and Aena (Spanish National Agency for the Promotion of Public Works) to agree on a proposal to extend its third runway lasted eight months, twice as long as President Salvador Illa had promised upon taking office.

Getting to the presentation of the project this week hasn't been easy. The technical committee tasked with finding a solution was launched early in the legislative session with orders to present a viable option in January. To speed things up, two parallel working groups were created. The first included representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Aena, and the Catalan government with representatives from the Secretariat of Territory and Housing, and its role was more strategic and institutional.

The Generalitat attempted a shorter runway extension, but Aena defended the 500 meters until the end.

But the project design and implementation work has been carried out by a second technical group. Leading the effort were Jordi Candela and Cristina Calleja, both from Aeroports de Catalunya; Sergi Cantó, Deputy Director General of Environmental Assessment; and César Trapote, an aeronautical engineer from the University of Catalonia (UPC), representing the Catalan government. Aena's team was led by Elena Mayoral, Director General of Airports; Sonia Corrochano, Director of Airport Planning and former director of El Prat Airport; and Eva Valenzuela, current director of Barcelona Airport, all aeronautical engineers.

Members of the negotiating teams explain that the Catalan experts aimed to introduce changes to Aena's initial proposal, which was used as a basis, to minimize its impact on the natural areas of the Natura 2000 Network. This was the objective during more than 20 in-person meetings in Barcelona.

The technical solution was finalized in March, but the environmental aspect, which was essential, remained to be clarified.

“La Ricarda is a symbol of resilience for many citizens, and this shouldn't be underestimated,” reflects one of the members. The first element suggested by the Catalan side to gain ground was to use the safety zones of the sea runway to gain takeoff length without having to pave so much ground. This involves partially paving the so-called Resas (Resas). This has reduced the civil works by almost 90 meters towards La Ricarda and 60 meters towards Remolar. Aena accepted the idea and soon began calculating. This formula was put on track at a meeting held on December 3.

Once this option was agreed upon, the exact length of the runway remained to be decided. "Aena insisted on 500 meters to achieve a total runway of 3,160 meters, and the Catalan technicians pushed to reduce it to 3,100 meters," explain the sources familiar with the matter. This approach, they believed, could avoid touching the Ricarda waterline. This debate began in January. During the deliberations, the runway length required by long-haul aircraft to take off with full load was calculated. For the airport manager, the 500 meters were an essential condition. "Otherwise, the extension would not be worthwhile," say sources consulted. But the debate continued at the technical meetings. In one session, a consultant who participated in the previous expansion of El Prat Airport was even invited to explain a proposal to extend the third runway by 300 meters. He was not convincing for reasons of air safety.

The Government has yet to complete the compensatory measures for the previous airport expansion in 2002.

Time was running out, and patience was running out. Shortly after, work accelerated, and by March, the 500-meter option was consolidated. But the most difficult aspect remained. Aside from a complicated political schedule, the environmental requirements for facilitating the expansion with Brussels were not yet ready.

The major obstacle complicating the project is the existence of an infringement procedure opened by the EU for insufficient protection of the Llobregat Delta following the previous airport expansion (2002). The delays to the proposal are related to "this thorn in the side" that the Generalitat (Catalan Government) cannot overcome. Following a complaint from Depana, the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Spanish authorities in February 2021 accusing them of having breached several European directives by failing to implement the environmental compensatory measures stipulated in the 2002 environmental impact statement. The Generalitat (Catalan Government) is having difficulty closing this European case: it has not yet met all the requirements imposed by the EU.

The agreement with the agricultural sector to accept the new bird zones is key to closing the EU case.

Steps have been taken in that direction, but the path has not been completed. In response to the Commission's request, the Government approved in July 2024 (with the acting Executive of the ERC) an expansion of the Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) from 935 to 2,407 hectares.

But it must complete other requirements, such as the renaturalization (at a very advanced stage) of four parking lots, improperly built by Aena in the Can Sabadell natural area (a biological corridor linking the Els Reguerons and El Remolar enclaves in Viladecans). Furthermore, the Llobregat Delta Natural Environment and Landscape Protection Plan must be approved to define land uses in these protected areas (a task that has been pending for 20 years!). Faced with the ecological deterioration of the delta, Europe is demanding reliable evidence that it will be halted. And here, on the Catalan side, disagreements arise, as there are very different views on how to reconcile agricultural uses with the presence of protected birds. The agricultural property community (the Sant Isidre Agricultural Institute) and the Unió de Pagesos (Union of Pagesos) reject the expansion of these SPAs, as many owners aspire to build greenhouses or warehouses to boost the logistics of an agri-food industry. Therefore, they have filed lawsuits in court to request the annulment of the SPAs.

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The result is that fear of conflict with farmers has paralyzed this protection plan for years, which is essential for resolving disputes with Brussels and closing the case.

Minister Sílvia Paneque has promised farmers that they will have a management plan before the end of the year to clarify what these possible uses will be. The Government is seeking an out-of-court settlement with these organizations. But a devalued agreement could be worthless before the European Union.

To try to address this issue, the expansion proposal presented by Illa includes an environmental fund to improve the management of agricultural areas and wetlands. "It could be an interesting experience; we will encourage farmers to be paid for producing biodiversity," adds Jordi Sargatal, Secretary of Ecological Transition.

As a strategy to gain credibility with the EU, Sargatal supports "starting to implement environmental measures now," such as providing resources to the Consortium for the Protection and Management of Natural Spaces in the Llobregat Delta. However, this consortium, the body in charge of all this, has very limited resources. The final hurdles to achieving the airport expansion remain to be resolved. The road ahead will be long.