Catalonia needs €60 billion in infrastructure investment to reach the European average

Catalonia needs close to 60 billion euros in infrastructure investment to converge with the European average, according to the latest report by Foment del Treball Nacional.

The figure reflects an accumulated structural deficit of almost 50 billion euros over the last 15 years, resulting from systematically insufficient investment and low levels of budget execution.

Government funding is insufficient to cover the depreciation of roads or high-capacity routes caused by the passage of time.

While Europe allocates an average of 2.2% of GDP to infrastructure, investment in Catalonia has remained well below this figure — in some years even around 0.5% — which has prevented not only the expansion of the network, but even the offsetting of its depreciation.

This deficit directly impacts competitiveness, mobility and the quality of public services, in a context also marked by population growth and greater technological demands.

Furthermore, economists argue that, by definition, when a territory gains population — as is the case in Catalonia — it is not enough to simply maintain infrastructure; it must be expanded to serve that larger number of inhabitants.

In this scenario, CCIES considers it essential to recover the strategic role of public-private partnership and the concession model as levers to:

• Efficiently mobilize investment
• Ensure project execution
• Incorporate innovation and technology
• Ensure the long-term sustainability of infrastructure and public services