the harbour community of Barcelona does not have some intention to pay 30% of the terrestrial connections with the markets of all the Spanish ports



Economic the harbour community and of Barcelona takes position against the disposition for the financing of the Bottom of Accessibility for the realization of terrestrial accesses to the Spanish ports that are introduced 6th june by the government of Madrid in the within of the Plan of the measures for the increase, the competitiveness and the efficiency. The disposition, than the executive it intends to institute with a bill, previews to assign to such Fund 50% of the result of exercise recorded from the 28 Spanish Harbour Authorities, figure that for the port of Barcelona corresponds to 37,3 million euros as in the 2013 Catalan harbour agency it has archived item the annual budget with a result of 74,6 million euros.

The president of the Harbour Authority of Barcelona, Sixte Cambra, has emphasized that with such figure its port would go to alone finance 30% of the Bottom of Accessibility and that by themselves the five ports of Barcelona, Algeciras, Balearic, Cartagena and Las Palmas would contribute to cover 72% of the requirements of the new Bottom.

Cambra has defined this legislative initiative of the government "a lot worrisome", as - she has explained - violates the principle of base of the law on the ports that is self-financing of the ports of general interest. The president of the harbour authority of Barcelona has evidenced moreover as, to its opinion, the Bottom of Accessibility would strongly limit the ability to realize in future investments in the port "and, what a lot important - it has added - would not hinder only our competitiveness as port, but would hit also the competitiveness of the private operators presents in our infrastructure since the returns generated from their activities would finance projects that would give greater competitiveness to the operators of other ports that are live competition".

The initiative - Cambra has still denounced - "would substantially alter the financial engagements that we have contracted". The port of Barcelona - in fact it has remembered - has a debit of 440 million euros with the European Investment Bank: "the port - it has observed - would have assumed therefore the burden to finance other final ports. And not only this: Barcelona would finance activity in other sites in which many traffics they are of our directed competence".

Cambra has rimarcato moreover that already now the port of Barcelona contributes economically, with important sums, to the development of national the harbour system. The current model of financing of the Spanish harbour system - it has specified - is based on the autonomy financial institution of the ports, but the port of Barcelona supplies also two important contributions to the entire Spanish harbour system: in fact 4% of the returns generated from the taxes are destined to finance the public organization Puertos of the Estado and 4.5% of cash flow are destined to the Bottom of Interportuale Compensation that contributes to the maintenance of the ports in deficit. Based on this model - it has found Cambra - the port of Barcelona, that she is by far the first contributor between the Spanish ports, concurs to 22.5% of the Bottom of Interportuale Compensation and to 17.5% of the deep ones in order to finance Puertos of the Estado. Last year the sum of the two contributions poured from the port of Barcelona is piled to beyond 10 million euros and in the course of last five years (2009-2013) the contributions totals supplied from the Catalan port has been pairs to 47,3 million euros.

Also the system of the enterprises of Barcelona has protested for iniquity of the modality of finding of the money in order to finance the Bottom of Accessibility, finding that an approach based exclusively on the mobilization of resources by the Harbour Authorities that are profitable would turn out counter-productive in order to reach the declared objective to maximize the private financings for the realization of the necessary investments for the removal of the restrictions to the increase current and that of mean and long term. "The lack of an impact on the budget of the State - it has emphasized the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona - cannot be the only criterion in order to decide if to approve of the measures in order to stimulate the competitiveness of the market of the transports". Moreover the Chamber of Commerce has evidenced that a wrong approach for the financing of the Fund "seriously threatens the competitiveness of all the productive and commercial woven one that work through the port of Barcelona".

The Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona therefore has asked the ministry that the finding of deep for the new investments is not based on the imposition of new burdens in confronts of the more efficient ports.