With regard to railways, Spain was, relative to
Britain, a late starter. When the first Spanish line opened in 1848, the
British had already been operating trains for 23 years. The inaugural track
stretched a mere 20 miles, along the Catalan coast from Barcelona to Mataró. Today, Spain’s total route length is comparable with Britain’s, and Mariano
Rajoy’s PP government aims to link all the provincial capitals with high-speed
services by 2020. More about that pipe dream later.
I have loved trains and rail travel since my
undergraduate days of the late 1980s. As an Englishman studying at a Scottish
university, life consisted of lectures, hangovers and going back and forth
across the Forth Bridge. Rail journeys are a daydreamer’s paradise. Try gazing
at the passing scenery or closing your eyes for a moment while driving a car –
or rather, don’t. Since then, I have sampled ‘the glorious and the unknown’ by
train in every continent of the world (Figure 41.1). There is not one trip I
regret having made.
Figure
41.1: On the rails (and off them) for 15 years
Copyright
© 2012 Paul Spradbery
Back to Spain in 2o12. The economic outlook is
becoming more apocalyptic by the day. 1 in 4 Spaniards are unemployed (Figure
41.2); the yield on 10-year government bonds has just risen to 6.1%; and the
national debt will breach the €702 billion
mark before I complete this paragraph. The only route to national economic salvation
appears to be sharp currency devaluation, but this is precluded by Spain’s
continuing membership of the terminally-stricken Eurozone. The current
political strategy certainly feeds the vanity of the EU hierarchy but is
callously destroying people’s lives. Some traders have recently reverted to the
peseta, in desperation as much as in patriotic
protest. More will surely rebel in the near future.
Figure
41.2: Unemployment in Spain now stands at unprecedented levels.
Copyright
© 2012 The Olive Press
Countless politicians and commentators, not just in
Spain, are now urging governments to invest billions in huge infrastructure
projects, including railways, in an attempt to stimulate a return to economic
health. This is frequently a sensible, far-sighted policy – but only if the
coffers are full. With such stupendous debt levels, however, it makes me wonder
where such advocates think the money would come from. Trying to borrow one’s
way out of de facto insolvency is
beyond absurd. (If you do not believe me, suggest it to a bank manager.)
A sad consequence of the recession is the shelving
of a plan to extend what is a beautiful railway along the Mediterranean
Corridor from Alicante, via Málaga, to San Roque (Figure 41.3). The need for 40
new tunnels along the proposed route has probably contributed to the decision.
I have travelled on the so-called ‘Euromed’ several times, and parts of it are
a traveller’s dream.
Figure
41.3: The ‘Euromed’ service, travelling north along Spain’s stunning east coast
Copyright
© 2009 Sergio Moreno Pillo
The ultimate goal is a continuous route from
Algeciras all the way up the coast to Barcelona, some 500 miles plus. At
present, Spain’s rail network is radial, with Madrid as the central connection
point (Figure 41.4). Any journey from Andalucía to Barcelona, therefore,
involves an arduous detour via the capital. The lack of funding for the project
will mean, among other things, that Marbella will be the only Spanish town with
a population greater than 100,000 without access to the railway.
Figure
41.4: The red and blue lines show the proposed high-speed rail route
Copyright
© 2012 El Gobierno de España
The completion of el corredor mediterráneo would provide an enormous economic boost
to the entire south coast. A noble idea, but I do not expect it will progress
beyond the drawing board any time soon.
Copyright © 2012 Paul Spradbery
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