"Great integrating projects are those that have offered us stability and helped Spain prosper", says Mariano Rajoy

Castellón de la Plana

"Things go well for the Spanish people when we travel together on the same train and this is the case because we can travel further and, with this new stretch of high-speed line, we can also reduce distances", commented Mariano Rajoy at Castellón de la Plana AVE station. The President of the Government travelled from Madrid to Valencia and on to Castellón, a line that will start up its commercial service on Tuesday, 23 January. The daily offer of seats between Madrid and Castellón will be increased four-fold, with a total number of 2,550 seats on a business day, and the travel time will be reduced by 37 minutes to two and a half hours.

According to the President of the Government, it has been proven that the Welfare State is compatible with budget stability and with the effective and efficient management of public resources and the modernisation of Spain. "And this modernisation has a global benchmark in high-speed railway travel", claimed Mariano Rajoy, for whom the AVE is "a strategic infrastructure and also a productive investment", since it contributes to territorial structure, social cohesion and acts as an economic catalyst.

Infrastructure, he added, facilitate the lives of citizens and increases the attraction of Spain, a country that obtains more than 10% of its GDP from tourism. "Great integrating projects are those that have offered us stability and helped Spain prosper", he stated.

The Mediterranean Corridor - a State project

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoThe President of the Government explained that the AVE service between Madrid and Castellón has meant the addition of a third line in addition to one of the pre-existing lines, with a budget of 178 million euros. In a subsequent phase, a new twin-track platform will be built between Valencia and Castellón to separate high-speed trains from other traffic, with a total investment of 1.17 billion euros.

These actions, he added, form part of the Mediterranean Corridor, "a vital State project for our country". This multi-modal infrastructure, combining highways and railways, will connect companies, ports and airports in the Mediterranean, from Algeciras to the French border, with a total investment of some 22 billion euros, of which 62% have already been implemented. "We are working on all the stretches at this time and have sufficient financing to tackle all our commitments", stressed Mariano Rajoy.

Boost to high-speed travel and freight transport

According to the President of the Government, the new AVE service is also a "tangible example of the government boosting high-speed rail travel", as can be seen by the other stretches which will see work finished or services started up this year: Venta de Baños (Palencia)-Burgos; Zamora-Pedralba de la Pradería (Corridor to Galicia); Chamartín-Torrejón de Velasco (Madrid); Monforte del Cid (Alicante)-Murcia. Furthermore, another two actions forming part of the Mediterranean Corridor are undergoing tests at this time: Antequera-Granada and Tarragona-Vandellós.

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoIn regard to railways, Mariano Rajoy also underlined the efforts to improve commuter services and recalled that on 15 December 2017, the Council of Ministers approved the list of services declared as public service obligations, whereby the State will guarantee the provision of these services by financing their operating deficit.

Increasing the volume of railway freight transport is another of the government's main goals in this field. "The mechanism we have implemented to achieve this is the Financial Fund for Land Access to Ports, which provides for a total investment of 1.42 billion euros", he remarked.

And as regards highway infrastructures, the President of the Government reminded the audience that the Extraordinary Highway Investment Plan, already under way will mobilise some 5 billion euros to undertake actions on more than 2,000 kilometres of roads over the next four years. This initiative will also create 189,000 jobs and a fiscal return of some 3 billion euros.

Agreement on regional financing

In his speech, the President of the Government also referred to the debate on regional financing, which he described as "very difficult" and "complex", since "everyone has their own reasons and arguments". The current model, which dates back to 2009, could not be modified in the last term of office because "the clear priority" was "to avoid Spain going bankrupt which, while this may now seem very far away, was on the verge of happening".

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoMariano Rajoy argued that the party that maintains the government in power in this term of office does not have enough MPs to push through a new model of regional financing by itself, and hence it is essential to reach an understanding with other political forces, in particular an agreement between the People's Party and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. "This is the case for purely mathematical reasons, but also because it is what common sense dictates", he stated.

The President of the Government stressed that he "has every intention" of resolving this issue. "I will do everything in my power", he said to the President of the Regional Government of Valencia, Ximo Puig, who attended the event, and whom he asked for the same effort to this end.

Non official translation