The Somport tunnel is a priority communication axis between the north of Spain and the south of France. However, the damage caused by DANA they destroyed the road RN134which remains closed since September 6. Now the ball is in the French governmentwho does not seem to have any intention of speeding up its repair, and who has estimated that it would be necessary at least six months restore communications. A delay that is too long and whose economic consequences could be devastating for the regions of Aragon and the Hautes Pyrenees, which need to speed up their repairs.
The storms caused severe damage to both the Bielsa Tunnelas in tSomport JunctionThe Bielsa tunnel, affected by landslides between the two sides, is being repaired by the Government of Aragon and hopes that it will bethis friday reopens, as promised by the Minister of Development, Housing, Logistics and Territorial Cohesion, Octavio Lopez, who led a delegation of European Cross-Border Cooperation Grouping (AECT) Pyrenees-Pyrenees.
Regarding the Somport TunnelThe will depends on both countries. The Azcón executive is putting all its efforts, but the French government has announced that it will take more time. What will affect 1,600 vehicles per day who take this route, according to the PP’s calculations in Europe, including 300 are carriers who use it on their transnational routes.
The Somport tunnel and the DANA
This situation has triggered all the concerns between the Government of Aragon and the French Hautes Pyrenees region, due to the economic collapse which could delay the solution of the problem by the French Executive, which is the competent administration to repair the road that was devastated by the passage of the DANA, causing a collapse at km 109.8 that affected the road in both directions.
Commercial organizations such as CEOE Aragon wave Jacetania Business Association denounced the devastating economic impact that the deadline set by France to repair the RN 134 and reopen the border crossing, vital for the region’s businesses and for the more than 300 transporters who cross it, would have on the territory.
At the institutional level, the plenary session of the Cortes of Aragon approved last Friday a statement in which he calls for the repair of the road and the reestablishment of trans-Pyrenean communications through this emergency approach and the EGTC Pyrénées-Pyrénées itself requested the same day a meeting with all cross-border representatives with the aim of sharing solutions and shortening the closure of the road as much as possible.
“We are here, the political representatives of Aragon and the two French departments affected by this breakdown, to be heard and a request that is fair and reasonable“, stressed Octavio López, who asked the French Executive “to mobilize the necessary resources in the same way as Aragon does, so that the effects of the storm on the roads that affect us are as brief as possible and that the damage caused to “citizens and businesses on both sides of the mountain range are minor and their viability is not threatened.”
Members of the entourage
In this context, this Tuesday, the European Group for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Pyrénées-Pyrénées, including the Autonomous Community of Aragon, the Provincial Council of Huesca (DPH), the Department of Hautes-Pyrénées and the Department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, demanded, with the Somport tunnel, an immediate response from the French government.
On behalf of the Government of Aragon, the Minister of Development, Housing, Logistics and Territorial Cohesion and currently president of the aforementioned EGTC visited the site, Octavio Lopez; the Director General of Transport and Vice-President of the domain responsible for cross-border infrastructure and mobility at the EGTC, Miguel Angel Anía; the Director General of Roads and Infrastructure, Miguel Angel Arminioand the chief of staff of the Development Directorate, the latter two also being members of the Assembly of the Pyrénées-Pyrénées EGTC.
The Provincial Council of Huesca was represented by its president, Isaac Claver, and for Jesus Gericómayor of Sallent de Gállego and vice-president in charge of the territorial development sector of the EGTC.
On the French side, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Department participated Clement ServatVice-President in charge of the Innovation and Transition Domain of the EGTC, and the Hautes-Pyrénées Department were present Maryse BeyrieVice President responsible for the tourism sector.
To the European Commission
Furthermore, this Tuesday, during the plenary session of the European Parliament held in Strasbourg, both the Aragonese MEP of the PP, Borja Gimenez Abadas Rosa Maria Serranoof the PSOE, asked the European Commission to speed up the reopening between border crossings. In this sense, the popular MEP urged the Commission to activate a mechanism such as the Solidarity reserve and emergency aid (SEAR) to provide a rapid response to the natural disaster and ensure the cross-border transport of goods, particularly on this very strategic route.
For her part, the socialist from Huesca asked him to justify “the duration of the work“If this is not justified, we will ask the European Commission to intervene to demand the reopening of the crossing,” he added.
