THE Spanish Minister for Public Works, Magdalena Alvarez, yesterday confirmed to the Senate that the Spanish Government is willing to come to an agreement with the Balearic Government about the railways.
She was speaking in reply to a question put by the Balearic Senator, Pere Sampol, about the intentions of the Spanish Government to comply with article 10 of the Balearic Islands Special System Law, which establishes the promotion of railway transport.
The Minister said that, for collaboration between the two governments, an agreement needs to be signed and her department is working on that at the moment.
She said that there was willingness to come to an agreement and recalled that jurisdiction for the railways was transferred in 1993 and only in 1998 was it established that the Spanish Government would collaborate in railway matters. After explaining that financial support is managed by the Spanish Ministry of Finance, Alvarez said that her department and the Ministry for Finance are working together on this agreement.
Sampol pointed out that Balearic residents have contributed through taxes to railway investment in the rest of the country and it is time that part of these taxes should be used to develop a strategic project for Balearic residents. He called for abandoned lines to be reopened and new lines built to guarantee a high quality public transport service.