“We are defending a model of government, of how to structure our country, of how to structure Spain,” Juste said. He stressed that the route is intended not only to “connect northern Spain with eastern Spain, but also to provide opportunities for inland Spain, which sometimes has fewer,” he said.
THE CORRIDOR AS AN ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR TERUEL
During the opening ceremony, the president of the Provincial Council also underscored the importance of the corridor in revitalizing the region and enabling its economic and employment development. “We want to have the tools and infrastructure that allow us to develop and give us a level playing field. A rail corridor connects business activities, logistics platforms, municipalities and people, but above all it generates economic activity, creates jobs, attracts population and keeps us alive in the region,” Juste said.
Along these lines, he stressed the importance of everyone working together and united so that “we move in the right direction” and called for the study to be corrected “by all of us” so that Teruel is connected to Sagunto by a double-track railway and inland areas can have the same opportunities. “I believe in this land, I believe in my province and I believe we can develop our region here, but we need tools, infrastructure and the same opportunities as everyone else,” he concluded.
TERUEL CALLS FOR THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES
Alongside Juste, Teruel Mayor Emma Buj emphasized the call for Teruel to have the same opportunities available in other territories. In this regard, she recalled that the province was “the last province in Spain to have a railway line” and also “the last province in Spain to have a motorway”.
Juste and Buj’s speeches opened “The Hour of the Sea-to-Sea Corridor”, an event promoted by the Government of Aragon with the aim of calling for a genuine rail corridor. After the opening ceremony, a roundtable moderated by the mayors of Zaragoza, Teruel and Huesca—Natalia Chueca, Emma Buj and Lorena Orduna, respectively—was held. Further contributions then followed from various experts and representatives of business and logistics sectors.
