Parties, mayors, associations and social agents have gathered to demand that institutions speed up the reopening of the Pyrenean passes with France. The tunnel closures, which leave Aragon semi-isolated from the neighboring country, threaten to seriously affect economic activity, and not only Aragon. Two of these passes are still completely closed to traffic, while the third does not allow the circulation of trucks. This Friday, the Cortes approved an institutional declaration that urges administrations to speed up the repair of these conditions.
The Bielsa-Aragnouet tunnel, in Sobrarbe, and the Somport tunnel, in Jacetania, are closed. In the first case, due to the conditions in the French part near Eget Cité and the landslides in the Aragonese area. In the second, more serious, because a section of the RN134 that gives access to said tunnel has collapsed; According to France, this situation will last at least six months. Meanwhile, through the third pass, in Portalet -Alto Gállego-, cars can cross but the passage of trucks of more than 3.5 tons is prohibited.
The damage caused by this situation could be considerable and affect many areas. At least the union of institutions – on both sides of the border – to press for an acceleration of the work seems clear.
The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Pyrénées-Pyrénées, which includes the Autonomous Community of Aragon, the Provincial Council of Huesca, the Department of Hautes-Pyrénées and the Department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques – and whose rotating presidency corresponds to this moment, Octavio López, Aragonese Minister of Development, Housing, Mobility and Logistics, has asked the French State to organize a meeting with all cross-border representatives, with the aim of sharing the planned provisional solutions and shortening the closure of the cross-border. as much as possible the Somport border road.
And the government delegate in Aragon, Fernando Beltrán, sent a letter to the prefect of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Julien Charles, to express his solidarity in the face of the significant damage suffered in France, and also to offer the necessary help to re-establish cross-border communications as soon as possible, providing a solution that allows a fundamental connection to be re-established as soon as possible between the two countries.
On a political level, this demand has also united the two Aragonese MEPs, the popular Borja Giménez Larraz and the socialist Rosa Serrano, who are demanding that the European Commission take action. Both have asked Brussels a series of questions on this subject. The MEP from Huesca is asking for an assessment of the damage that justifies any closure; if this ceiling is exceeded, “the Commission will have to demand that France accelerates its reopening.”
The mayor of Canfranc – the last town before crossing the Somport border -, Fernando Sánchez, explains to this newspaper that the economic consequences of the blockade affect the inhabitants of the area in their daily lives. “It penalizes those who have a business, the tourism sector or families who were thinking of traveling to France,” he emphasizes. But not only that: “The damage is considerable for Canfranc, for the entire valley and for Aragonese logistics and industry in general,” adds the first mayor. Sánchez regrets that “investments in French roads are not ideal” and castigates in favor of the train: “The railway infrastructure is in perfect condition.” What is a pity, he specifies, is that the train goes to Bedous, but not to Canfranc.
For his part, the mayor of Bielsa – where the damage is minor -, Miguel Ángel Noguero, explains that the authorities have accelerated the procedures for recovering traffic. “Next week, an alternative approach will be operational,” says the mayor, who draws a “positive balance sheet” of the involvement of the institutions in the problem. Of course, he asked that all promises be kept, because “in the autumn there are many travel programs” and among the operators “there are doubts.”
This Friday, the plenary session of the Cortes of Aragon approved an institutional declaration in which it urges the administrations to speed up the repair of the damage on the French road RN-134, so that the reopening of Somport is authorized as soon as possible.
In the statement, read at the beginning of the plenary session by the President of the Cortes, Marta Fernández, the groups warn that the closure of the RN134c in France has a great impact on the daily life of the region, since hundreds of people cross the border daily to work, study or do business in both directions, and this also has a significant impact on the transport sector. “The connection with France through this border crossing is essential for the competitiveness of many Aragonese companies,” the statement says. The Aragonese representatives recall that an economic assessment of the impact of the closure of the Somport tunnel carried out by the Government of Aragon in 2014 already estimated the direct, indirect and induced costs of the tunnel’s closure at 730,000 euros per week.
Faced with this situation, the Cortes urge all local, regional, national and European authorities “to redouble their efforts in the search for formulas that will accelerate the repair of the road affected” by the storms so that normality is restored at the border crossing as soon as possible, mitigating the effects on the daily lives of hundreds of people from both countries, on the economy of the region and on the mobility of citizens in general.
On the part of the employers’ organization, CEOE Aragón expresses its concern about the serious consequences of the closures. In the case of road transport, this will force the hundreds of Spanish trucks that use the Somport tunnel every day to have to make a 300-kilometer detour to access France via the Irun border, thus increasing the congestion that this border crossing permanently suffers.
For its part, the Association of Food Industries of Aragon wanted to express its great concern about the operational and economic damage caused by the blockade at the border posts. As this entity recalls, more than 400 trucks cross the Pyrenees every day, supplying raw materials to the main agri-food companies in Aragon, especially those linked to the processing of cereals for human and animal consumption (animal feed, starches, flours, semolina, etc.). The six-month deadline set by the French authorities to restore normality is, according to the aforementioned association, “unaffordable for companies in the sector”.
