The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has taken Spain without the duties done. At least in the development, maintenance and rehabilitation of social infrastructure. Pandemia has exposed the deficit and carelessness that the country has in hospitals, residences of elders, educational centers, social housing and other buildings related to transport and mobility, necessary for well -being in a community. The shots, however, seem to change. The mana of resources that will arrive from the European Union promises to revitalize public works after more than a decade of falling layer. Greater public-private collaboration and an adequate allocation of resources are required, which will have to benefit mainly those projects that contribute to the care of the environment. This has been one of the conclusions reached by various experts in a meeting organized by El País in collaboration with Acciona. The current situation is critical. Public investment in the country is in historical minimums (equivalent to those of 1980), said Julián Núñez, president of Seapan, the employers of the construction and infrastructure concessionaires. Despite a slight recovery in public procurement in 2019, the volume (9,890 million euros) is 42% lower than that carried out prior to the start of fiscal consolidation in 2010, according to a SEOPAN analysis. The reconstruction fund of reconstruction of The European Union, however, represents an opportunity for the country to start various projects that have remained in the fridge. «We are at a key moment,» said María Jesús Delgado, professor and researcher at the Rey Juan Carlos University. Spain will obtain about 140,000 million euros, of which 72.7 billion correspond to direct aid and the rest will be credits. Of this sum, about 10,000 million euros will go to infrastructure issues, mainly to urban mobility and housing rehabilitation, said Pedro Saura, Secretary of State for Transportation, Mobility and Urban Agenda, during his participation in the event that was held last Thursday. «Austerity to Palo Seco is not the way,» said the government representative. But before the engine starts, you have to choose the projects. «It would focus on those related to the water sector, which have an enormous multiplier capacity in the economy, and in the hospital sector, which has been punished in this health crisis and that deserves a strong investment,» said Hube Moreno , CEO of Construcción de Acciona. Pandemia has transformed priorities and has revealed certain deficiencies, said Ovid Turrado, responsible partner of the infrastructure sector in Spain in KPMG. «You have to invest more in socio -health and educational infrastructures,» he added. For Rosa Vidal, director of the Public Law Area of Broseta, those such as the Senior Centers and those related to environmental management are also a priority. Vidal above all stressed that the key to compensating this deficit is in a good choice of funds and in a correct execution of the projects. «We have a great challenge ahead,» he settled.From left to right, Rosa Vidal (Broseta), Huberto Moreno (ACCIONA), Pedro Saura (Secretary of State for Transport), Julián Núñez (Seopan), María Jesús Delgado (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Ovid Turrado (KPMG). » Liquidity exists and we cannot lose that train. We have to be able to take that opportunity, ”said Moreno. In that sense, the representative of Seopan breaks down the priorities. The first of them: comply with regional directives. “Spain is the European country with more environmental sanctions. We have to invest more than 4.6 billion euros in purification [de aguas] And more than 6,500 million euros in the treatment of waste, ”he said. He explained that it is important to pay attention to critical works such as roads to avoid fatal accidents. In the health issue, Núñez indicated that it is necessary to invest about 4.7 billion euros to reduce the waiting list and 16,000 million to improve health care. As for public transport, he said that an expense of 30,000 million euros would be required, mainly by subway and vicinity.
Merchandise transport
«Transport infrastructure has a great contribution to social service, because their modernization reduces greenhouse gases,» added Saura, secretary of transport, mobility and urban agenda. «We need mobility because without it GDP does not grow.» Finally, Núñez stressed that a reform in the railway rail system is essential, since its modernization could give a good thrust to the decarbonization of the economy, in addition the country would gain competitiveness in land transport. In Spain, 90% of the merchandise moves by road, when the European average reaches 70%, according to the Ministry of Development. On a railroad only about 5%is mobilized. But to launch all these plans requires an unprecedented collaboration work between the public administration and the companies, all the guests to the event agreed. Vidal, of the Broseta buffet, stressed that the Government must act with agility never seen in the assignment of works and in the distribution of aid. «Administration requires something very disruptive, a radical change,» he said. According to Turrado, from KPMG, the priority must be complementing those European funds with attractive public-private collaboration projects that are able to catch additional resources. «This can be used to cover necessary infrastructure in areas that can be left out,» he said.
