IDEES, revista de temes contemporanis

The vital axis

Two clear actions would bring the Mediterranean corridor up to date: a dual carriageway parallel to the AP-7 motorway, and a true modernization of the railway, for both passengers and goods. This would mark the difference in the future, and prevent this axis from becoming a European cul-de-sac.

The so-called Mediterranean corridor, along the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, may end up becoming a European cul-de-sac or a vital part of the continental network. The geographer Josep V. Boira, in this article, backs taking advantage of the virtues of this communications vector, both as regards international connections and also starting from the strong economic dynamics between the Land of Valencia and Catalonia. To increase the importance of the Mediterranean axis in the future, the author demands two strategic actions. On the one hand, the widening of the current toll motorway with an inland dual carriageway and, on the other hand, considerable improvements to the railway, such as high speed for passengers and, above all, European gauge for goods. A couple of operations which, indeed, would have a major impact because they would question the more inefficient and costly Spanish system’s permanent radial vision.