ARAGÓN CALLS ON FRANCE TO COMMIT
Aragón’s director general for Transport, David Sánchez Fraile, conveyed this position on Tuesday during an event held in Canfranc alongside the president of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Alain Rousset. Sánchez said Aragón would continue working with the French region, but stressed that France must finance the measures needed on its territory to restore the railway connection.
The Aragonese government is also calling on the Spanish government to step up negotiations with France to drive the project forward. “Spain must also defend this strategic infrastructure and demand that France fulfill its share,” Sánchez said, arguing that the reopening would create an opportunity for mobility, tourism, employment and freight transport.
EIGHT WORKSHOPS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PYRENEES
The Canfranc meeting also served to present the conclusions of eight workshops held in Aragón and Béarn to examine the opportunities that reopening the line would create. Nearly 150 representatives from sectors including tourism, education, logistics, employment and local government took part in meetings held in Huesca, Zaragoza, Oloron-Sainte-Marie and Pau.
The work focused on four broad areas: tourism and culture, living and employment, sustainable mobility, and the economy and freight transport. The aim is to strengthen cross-border cooperation and advance projects that could benefit from the future railway connection between Aragón and Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
NEXT STEP: THE PUBLIC-INTEREST SURVEY
The Aragonese delegation also included the managing director of the Trans-Pyrenean Foundation, Cristina García, and the managing director of Aragón Plataforma Logística, Pedro Sas. The event marks one of the final steps before the public-interest survey, scheduled for early 2027. “Aragón is doing its part and will continue to do so. Now we need France to turn its commitments into investments and construction work,” Sánchez concluded.
