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The Secretary of State for Energy Transition, Transport and Mobility, David Fornet, was on Tuesday in Madrid on an official visit for several high-level political meetings aimed at deepening bilateral relations in the field of “land and air infrastructure and connectivity”, aimed at boosting tourism promotion, economic and commercial relations and the opening up of the Pyrenees and the country. Fornet thus met with the Secretary of State for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, José Antonio Santano, and the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Perez.
During both meetings, the Secretary of State explained the new developments promoted by the Government to improve the links between Andorra and Seu d’Urgell through bus public transport. Thus, in terms of internal transport, Fornet stressed that the Government is carrying out a project to develop and establish a sectoral infrastructure plan, which includes the implementation of a segregated urban public transport system for passengers. With these new studies, the Government is taking another step to be able to find the best segregated public transport model to give mobility to the country, decongest the existing system and reduce CO2 emission levels by reducing the greenhouse effect of the sector.
Forné expressed with his Spanish counterpart the desire to be able to carry out technical cooperation with the Spanish government to study the possibility of improving the N-145 and N-260 roads that lead to Andorra. He was also interested in a study being promoted by the Catalan government regarding a possible new railway line connecting Andorra and La Seu d’Urgell. The Secretary of State explained that this initiative would significantly improve mobility in the regional centre of Catalonia and unite two economic and commercial engines such as Barcelona and Andorra. As this is an international link, Forné insisted that the interests of the Principality be put first so that the project can be promoted.
In terms of air traffic, Fornet explained the government’s firm commitment to revitalizing Andorra’s Urgell airport. Currently, thanks to flights promoted by the Madrid and Palma administrations, the infrastructure’s user rate is gradually increasing, with a total of 5,546 passengers in the first quarter of 2024, more than double the actual passenger volume in the same period of the previous year. The government’s goal is to be able to continue strengthening this infrastructure, and as a result, the need for the airport to accommodate regular night passenger flights has shifted.
Finally, the Minister of Energy and Transport, Carles Mikel, who accompanied the Andorran delegation to Madrid, met with Sara Augerson, the head of the Office of the Secretary of State for Energy, to conduct a technical analysis on the advancement of the construction of a new high-voltage transmission line between Andorra and Adrar. This meeting follows the highest-level agreement that the head of government, Xavier Esporte, and the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, promised to sign last February.
This infrastructure is included in the Spanish Government’s Transmission Network Plan 2021-2026 and will increase the exchange capacity between the two countries’ electricity systems, so as to be able to meet the expected growing needs of the Andorran system through the Spanish electricity system, taking into account current and future economic developments and the decarbonization process ongoing in Andorra.
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