ERC, Comuns and CUP on Tuesday formed a united front against the planned expansion of Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport after the Council of Ministers gave the green light to DORA III, the 2027–2031 framework governing investment at state airports. For residents near the airport and the protected La Ricarda wetland, the immediate consequence is that the current funding period covers preparatory work rather than runway construction or an increase in airport capacity.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the framework provides €191.9 million for preparatory actions at El Prat, including project drafting and possible environmental compensation if the wider scheme proceeds. He said no runway would be altered and no airport capacity expansion would take place under those actions.
DORA, the Airport Regulation Document, sets the regulated investment and airport-charge framework for Aena's Spanish airport network. The 2027–2031 plan includes €9.991 billion in regulated investment nationally.
Parties set out different objections
Ester Capella, ERC's spokesperson in the Catalan Parliament, said her party opposed the expansion and argued that Catalonia should have decision-making powers over the airport system. ERC has called for a Catalan airport network strategy that considers airports across the territory rather than El Prat alone.
“ERC does not agree with the expansion.”Ester Capella, ERC spokesperson in the Catalan Parliament
Jéssica Albiach, president of the Comuns parliamentary group, said her party considered the project incompatible with climate goals and would seek to challenge it through European institutions.
“It will not happen, and we will stop it in Europe.”Jéssica Albiach, president of the Comuns parliamentary group
CUP deputy Xavier Pellicer also called for the expansion to be stopped, arguing that airport growth conflicts with action on climate change.
Further approvals remain necessary
The Council of Ministers' decision does not by itself authorise the full airport project. Aena has proposed a wider €3.2 billion programme for El Prat, including a satellite terminal, a connection to Terminal 1 and changes to the runway on the seaward side.
The remaining elements would require later regulatory cycles as well as environmental and administrative procedures. Aena has already commissioned work on a new airport master plan and environmental studies, which will set out the airport's future requirements.
Junts has not joined the three-party position. Its parliamentary spokesperson, Salvador Vergés, has called for changes to how the existing runways operate within three years before any decision on physically extending the third runway, subject to European environmental rules and compensation for affected residents.
Aena's DORA 2027–2031 proposal states that its board submitted the document to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the National Commission on Markets and Competition under Act 18/2014.
Primary sources: aena.es. Reported by en.ara.cat, elnacional.cat, ARA, passengerterminaltoday.com, spainenglish.com, reuters.com, El Nacional.
