Spain will invest 16 billion euros in the Atlantic Corridor

The Spanish ministry of transport, mobility, and urban agenda (MITMA) said it will invest over 16 billion euros in the development TEN-T Atlantic Corridor. Over 12 billion euros will be allocated to new constructions, while almost four billion will be reserved for renovation works.

The recently appointed Spanish State Secretary for Transport, David Lucas, presented the investment plan and the new Atlantic Corridor Committee in Gijon, in northern Spain. The ministry has also created a delegation, led by a Commissioner that will work with the parties involved in the corridor to draft a Master Plan which will be presented in October.

The objective of the Commissioner and the delegation is to make sure that the Master Plan will include the actions that those involved deem as priorities. Lucas “has encouraged companies and autonomous communities to convey their needs through the Commissioner and delegation”, as MITMA highlighted.

Working to include Cantabria and La Rioja regions on the Atlantic Corridor

At the event, Lucas claimed that the MITMA will work on finding a solution to include the Cantabria and La Rioja regions, in the north, in the Atlantic Corridor. The Ministry claimed that together with the regions, it has been demanding the European Commission to include the regions in the corridor.

The fact that this statement was made in Gijon, which is in the Asturia region, may be ironic to some. The Spanish regions of Asturias, Galicia, and Castilla y Leon have in fact recently asked the Spanish government to be included in the project for the corridor. The three regions prepared an investment plan, amounting to 7,9 billion euros, to present to the government to be used as a basis for the Master Plan for the development of the Corridor. It is not known yet what the government will do to accommodate (or not) these three regions.

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