Spanish government remains silent in response to Malaga Airport expansion plea but invests 3.2 billion in Barcelona-El Prat

Andalucía's regional minister of tourism Arturo Bernal has taken to social media to criticise Spain's central government for still not having issued a response to a letter, which he sent at the start of May, demanding the immediate expansion of Malaga Airport. Bernal asked the national minister of transport to adopt the exceptional measures contemplated in the regulatory plan of investments of Spain's airport operator Aena (DORAII) and start the expansion of the Costa del Sol facility as soon as possible, given the exceptional growth in the number of passengers in just a few years.

While minister Óscar Puente has remained silent on the question, the Ministry of Transport has announced an investment of 3.2 billion euros for the same actions to be undertaken at Barcelona-El Prat Airport.

"A month ago, I sent a letter to the minister of transport expressing our concern about key infrastructures, on which the competitiveness of Andalucía as a destination depends," said Bernal on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. He proceeded to denounce the prioritised agreement between the central government and Catalonia's regional government (Generalitat), which includes a "solid" proposal to expand Barcelona Airport. As announced by the president of Generalitat, Salvador Illa, the El Prat infrastructure will undergo an extension of the third runway, environmental improvements and other actions related to the two terminals.

Bernal strongly concluded: "Enough of ignoring Andalucía," condemning the government's double standards in approving investments for different regions.

Exclusively published by SUR, the letter from Bernal to Puente called for an immediate expansion at Malaga Airport through the application of the exceptional measures in the DORA II document, with the aim of bringing those actions forward earlier than estimated.

The DORA II document foresees the expansion of the 45 airports in the Aena network until 2026. However, as Bernal explained in the letter, DORA II foresees a maximum of 20.7 million passengers at Malaga Airport to be reached in 2027, which couldn't be farther from reality, given that the facility closed 2024 with 25 million passengers. This is dangerously close to the airport's maximum capacity of 30 million passengers, which Bernal expects will be reached by the end of 2026.

For this reason, the regional minister of transport demanded the immediate activation of the exceptional measures included in the DORA II, believing that it is not possible to wait for the approval of a new plan in 2027. The document does allow for these measures to be taken when "exceptional situations arise". One condition for this to happen states that there must be an annual increase in passenger traffic in the network as a whole - one that exceeds the growth forecast in the roadmap by 10 points - and that passenger traffic forecasts for the following years must show consolidation. In the case of Malaga Airport, both conditions are more than fulfilled. The total investment for the Costa del Sol for the period between 2022 and 2026 is 88 million euros.

Furthermore, in the letter, Bernal told Puente that "it is essential to give greater impetus to strategic projects for mobility and the economic and social development of Andalucía". Among those priority issues, he included the coastal train, the expansion of Malaga Airport and the intermodality and rail connection with Andalusian airports.

Months before the regional ministry sent this letter, Aena announced the launch of the public tender for the drafting of the projects for the adaptation to expand Alicante Airport. The drafting of the project alone involves a tender of almost 20 million euros and the corresponding actions will be included in the DORA III proposal. At that time, Aena announced that Malaga Airport was included in the investment plan to be developed in DORA III for the period 2027-2031, without providing further details and with the confirmation that it would have to wait until that date.

Malaga's people have also raised their voice, stating that the province's progress should not be halted due to the lack of infrastructure, that has been pending approvals, investments, construction and renovation for years. As SUR wrote a few weeks ago, the province needs 12 billion euros in investment to achieve all the necessary (and in many cases basic) goals to match the growing population. "Public authorities are not aware that infrastructure is vital for social, economic and social growth; we are not asking for impossible things, but to generate quality of life and economic activity and employment. There are many missing pieces that are essential to boost productivity in the province," said Javier González de Lara, president of the association of Andalusian and Malaga business owners. "We cannot lag behind: we need firm commitments; it is not enough to be interested, but to assume funding commitments, with institutional coordination."