Barcelona (EFE) .
This is what the president of this entity, Maite Barrera, explained in a press conference; its general manager, Mercè Conesa; the president of the pharmaceutical company Ferrer and who defines himself as an ecosocial activist, Sergi Ferrer-Salat; and the director of the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO), Josep Tabernero.
Aware of the environmental debate surrounding this expansion, the first step proposed by Barcelona Global in its report is to “regenerate the Ricarda area”, the Delta del Llobregat pond on which the controversy revolved when discussing the Aena project , which entailed invading it.
The airport manager should be in charge of caring for “the natural spaces around the airport”, which should also finance the “improvement of the quality of the wet area for birds”, according to the study.
And it is that the aerodrome of the Catalan capital is surrounded by natural spaces protected by the European Commission -through the Birds and Habitats directive-, which should give its approval prior to an extension such as the one proposed.
For Barrera, expanding El Prat could be “a great opportunity to improve La Ricarda, because the extension of the track is compatible with the ecological and hydrological preservation of the lagoons.”
A track of 3,130 meters
Extending the third runway is intended to facilitate the takeoff of large planes that cover intercontinental routes. Aena has defended that this runway must reach almost 3,500 meters, so that the runways work independently -with take-offs from the two runways-, while Barcelona Global limits its surface to 3,310 meters (compared to now, 350 more paved and 300 freer from obstacles).
This would mean that almost all intercontinental flights could use this runway, although on some occasions it would be necessary to opt for the segregated runway model -one runway for takeoffs and another for landings-.
The association does not determine in its report where this runway parallel to the sea should be extended: to the west, where El Remolar is located; towards the East, where Ricarda is located; or to both sides.
It does ensure that in this way the operations provided for in the 1992 Environmental Impact Statement would not be exceeded, that is, 90 per hour. With the current operation, less than 80 per hour can be carried out.
The president of Barcelona Global, Maite Barrera, has explained the proposal. EFE/ASSIGNED
In addition, Conesa has stated that this working group has not discussed what governance model El Prat should have (the Government wants it to stop depending only on Aena and proposes a management model like that of the Port) or whether a terminal would be necessary satellite (as also proposed by Aena).
The cost has not been quantified either, but it would be in the order of the 1,700 million put on the table by Aena.
Different position to that of Foment
The employers’ association Foment del Treball also set up a commission last September with the aim of presenting a new expansion proposal for this aerodrome. The conclusions were due to be presented in June, but have not yet been made public.
Asked about this, Barrera stressed that Barcelona Global has “different positions” with respect to Foment, given that the approach of this association is “holistic”, that is, more global and including the environmental section.
Ferrer-Salat has said in this sense that Barcelona Global proposes “a paradigm shift”, with the environmental issue at the center, while Barrera has stressed that the association stands out for “presenting proposals for the city that go against intuition”, For example, they promoted the application of a tourist tax.
The entity has explained the content of the report to the media today, but has not made it public in its entirety because it first wants to present it to the Government, which it will do in the coming days. Barrera has said that he has already discussed it with the new mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni.
Barcelona Global set up a working group made up of business voices seven months ago: those already mentioned; the director of the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), Teresa García-Milà; the corporate general director of Colonial real estate, Carmina Ganyet; the co-founder and CEO of Glovo, Oscar Pierre; and the president of Aldea Ventures, Gonzalo Rodés.
Experts from the aeronautical sector, infrastructure, airports, economists, biologists or biodiversity researchers have been consulted.