If the initial cost of the cable car between Astún and Candanchú was to be 22 million euros, the bill is only increasing. On September 17, during the presentation of the project, the Government of Aragon announced that the disbursement for this infrastructure would amount to 35 million euros, 13 more than expected and largely covered with regional funds. What was not disclosed at the time was that this amount only related to phase 0 and that it excluded an additional expenditure of 10 million euros to subsequently acquire most of the cabins and the construction of the garage.
In this way, the final investment will amount to 44.8 million, as indicated in the tender file published Tuesday in the Official Gazette of Aragon. And this is if there are no new additional costs. This is more than double what was initially planned. Without forgetting that due to the tight deadlines, it is not guaranteed to be compliant with Brussels, which covers part of the work with 10 million euros through the Next Generation program and will claim this amount if it does not is not completed on time.
Phase 0, valued at 35 million according to the document prepared by IDOM engineering, will have as its main action the cable car itself, with a cost of 22.3 million and with the three stations – upper, middle and lower – as significant elements. It also includes 24 cabins, the capacity of which will be limited to 600 skiers per hour.
Two other steps will follow which will increase the bill even further. They envisage – with the year 2035 as the time horizon – the acquisition of most of the cabins, 72 of them to reach 96 in total, with which it will now be possible to transport 2,400 people per hour.
Project presentation
The presentation of the project took place on September 17 at the headquarters of the Provincial Delegation of Huesca (DPH), in the presence of the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Manuel Blasco; the provincial president, Isaac Claver, and the president of the Commonwealth of the Upper Valley of Aragón, Álvaro Salesa, present at the event. The Regional Executive indicated that the infrastructure would require “an investment of 35 million euros”, of which 22 million would be covered by the DGA with its own funds, plus an additional 10 million from European funds and 3 million from the DPH. .
The three phases of execution have been described below. It was necessary to publish the call for tenders for the first to verify that the second and third represent an expenditure of an additional 10 million euros, up to a total of 35 million for an action initially valued at 22.
In the document itself attached to the above-mentioned act, an 11-page PDF, these figures are given without specifying the additional costs.
The cable car between Astún and Candanchú, which will cover 3.6 kilometers in 12 minutes once fully developed, will be an infrastructure that skiers from both resorts will be able to benefit from. It is part of the so-called Pyrenees Plan promoted by the Executive of Azcón, which the Government Council endowed with more than 57 million euros last February. It also includes a cable car from Benasque to Cerler station, the work of which was the subject of a call for tenders this summer for 16 million euros.
