Salvador Illa, President of the Generalitat, has called for a calm, unhurried debate on expanding, maintaining and funding the AP-7 motorway. For drivers, freight operators and businesses that rely on the route, any eventual decisions in those three areas could affect road capacity, upkeep and the way major works are paid for.

Speaking on Sunday 26 July 2026, Illa said the discussion should take place before the road network faces problems similar to those he associated with rail and airport infrastructure. Illa has been President of the Generalitat, Catalonia’s devolved government, since 10 August 2024.

"We need a calm debate" on the AP-7’s expansion, maintenance and funding, Illa said.

Three issues raised for the AP-7

Illa’s call covers three separate questions about the motorway:

  • Whether the AP-7 should be expanded.
  • How the route should be maintained.
  • How expansion and maintenance should be funded.

The statement did not set out a specific construction project, funding formula or timetable. It framed the AP-7 as an infrastructure issue requiring discussion before decisions are delayed.

Illa cites rail and airport infrastructure

Illa said he wanted to avoid the road network experiencing the same issues as railway and airport systems. In his view, action in those cases came too late.

The comparison places the AP-7 debate alongside wider concerns over infrastructure planning in Catalonia. The president’s official biography records that he previously held the Generalitat post of Director-General for Infrastructure Management between 2005 and 2009, before becoming President of the Generalitat on 10 August 2024.

For now, Illa’s intervention is a call to discuss the motorway’s future expansion, maintenance and funding rather than an announcement of AP-7 works.

Primary sources: govern.cat, eb.gencat.cat, eb.gencat.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, en.wikipedia.org, socialistes.cat, catalangovernment.eu, CatalunyaPress.es, Martina Alcobendas, Mireia Esteve, Roger Palós, Àngels Piñol, Bernat Coll, catalannews.com, alstom.com, Martina Alcobendas, europapress.es, Silvia Angulo, finantresnoticias.com, larazon.es, Cristina Buesa, Carlota Camps, Europa Press Barcelona.