Barcelona’s long-awaited tram connection along the iconic Avinguda Diagonal now faces a critical political negotiation. Mayor Jaume Collboni’s government has explicitly tied the project’s final approval to Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya’s (ERC) support for the Catalan government’s budget.
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While the City Council moves forward with procedural steps, officials clarified on Friday that the project cannot proceed to the construction phase without a budget agreement at the regional level. This move escalates pressure on ERC, whose votes are crucial for the Socialist-led Generalitat de Catalunya, headed by President Salvador Illa, to pass its spending plans.
“All administrations must approve their budgets to advance indispensable projects like this tram connection,” a municipal government source stated, directing the message to the Republican party, as reported by El Periódico.
A Procedural Step Forward
Despite the political standoff, the project to unite the city’s two disconnected tram networks, the Trambaix and Trambesòs, is taking a significant administrative step forward. On Tuesday, 17 March, the city’s Commission of Ecology, Urban Planning, Mobility, and Housing is set to definitively approve the plans for the reurbanisation of the avenue and the construction of a major new water collector system beneath it.
This phase covers the stretch of Avinguda Diagonal between Plaça de Mossèn Jacint Verdaguer and Plaça de Francesc Macià. The City Council has described this as a “major commitment to public transport, sustainable mobility, and metropolitan connection,” which aims to create a seamless tram line from the Baix Llobregat region to Sant Adrià de Besòs.
Following the commission’s approval, the next hurdle involves securing validation for the infrastructure project from the board of the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM), expected in April. After that, a crucial financing agreement must be signed between the Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat, detailing each administration’s financial responsibilities.
The Financial and Political Impasse
This final financing agreement now lies at the heart of the political dispute. This next phase of the tram connection is estimated to cost €195 million. The City Council has earmarked €115 million for its portion, covering €62 million for the water collector and €53 million for the avenue’s urban redevelopment. The Generalitat is responsible for the remaining €80 million, covering the cost of the tram tracks and related infrastructure.
Without an approved budget, the Generalitat cannot guarantee its €80 million contribution, effectively halting the project before a single track is laid. Mayor Collboni had previously warned that without a regional budget, Barcelona could miss out on investments worth around €250 million across various projects. This strategy of linking major infrastructure to budget talks mirrors that of President Illa, who has also been publicly urging ERC to “assume responsibilities” and not block the government’s plans.
The situation puts the tram connection, a project debated for over two decades, at the centre of a wider budget showdown between the Socialists and ERC.
A City-Transforming Project
Construction is expected to last approximately 40 months once it begins. The three-kilometre extension will add three new stations to the network at Diagonal | Cinc d’Oros, Balmes, and Casanova, significantly improving public transport options through the city’s central business district.
The project is part of a broader expansion of the tram network. Plans are also advancing to extend the Trambesòs line from Sant Adrià de Besòs to the Port of Badalona, a key development linked to the new Catalunya Media City and Inditex’s planned corporate campus.
For now, however, the heavy machinery remains idle. While the paperwork for one of Barcelona’s most significant mobility projects in recent years continues to advance, its physical realisation hinges on a political deal being struck in the halls of the Catalan Parliament.
