25 years of Rapiña AVE ...

25 years of Rapiña AVE ...

#PPSOE - Corruption in Spain travels at high speed - 25 years of Rapiña AVE ...

25 years of bird of prey ...

We rate the AVE 

as an instrument of class power.

We are in April 92. With the start of the EXPO'92 -another great fiasco also inaugurated the first stretch of AVE in the Spanish state, which would unite Madrid with Seville with the sole aim to dazzle the world. 

Recently the current Spanish prime minister,  Mariano Rajoy  commemorated the  25th anniversary of the start of the AVE  with these words: 

These 25 years of AVE are "the story of a collective success"

It should be specified that the group to which the president refers is not the suffering people of this state but its business elites, political and financial which are the only ones who have benefited from this infrastructure.

In these 25 years it has been developed 3,240 km of AVE  and are  under construction another 1500 km.more,  which puts the Spanish state in  the second in the world  after  China in terms of number of kilometers of TAV and  the first km. TAV per person and km. Despite  the small number of passengers. 

Of course, the bill has been expensive: 

51,775,000 € and continuous bleeding. 

Who has promoted such hypertrophy? 

The dense network of bribes  the  AVE in Castilla-Leon, Galicia, CAV, Asturias, Catalonia and Murcia why there are charged 14 people like the famous roles Barcenas we explain everything. 

Two would be causing: 

First, it  is noteworthy that the role of the powerful lobby of building the Spanish state is crucial. Among the most powerful construction companies in the world include several Spanish. 

This makes the Spanish state is a leader in km. of motorways in Europe (many of them with little traffic and rescued with public money) and more cement exports. 

This lobby is marking the transport infrastructure policy  in the Spanish state and specifically the madcap development of more and more km. TAV. 

Second,  it is  the corrupt political class in power  accustomed  to "bite" in the award of contracts to their friends companies. 

In addition, these politicians  without making the least cost-benefit study,  continued with TAV based on fetishes as "progress" and "modernity", knowing that the policy gives them significant electoral gains. 

In this crazy race to the bottom, no provincial capital wanted to stay without his new TAV station to eliminate its provincial complex, while creating a perverse competition between different regions. 

In addition,  in the capitals arrival of TAV  has been accompanied  by major urban balls  that in some cases bordered on the bizarre as  the station Guadalajara , located 10 km from the capital, next to which was built  on land owned by Esperanza 's husband Agirre  a luxury development  for 34,000 people  where you  currently live only 2000,  being used the station for about  70 passengers a day.

Sloppiness and improvisation has been the norm in the development of the AVE, with really creepy cases, 

as  the Toledo-Cuenca-Albacete service  costing € 18,000 / day for an average of 9 passengers / day and had to be eliminated in 2011; 

or tunnel Pajares in Leon-Asturias line  that after 12 years of work and tripling its initial budget of € 1000 million has played important aquifers causing a hidden transfer from León towards Asturias of up to 2,000 l / s, notknowing yet whether it will be operational. 

At this point, it is interesting to remember that no economist prestige today defends the construction of the AVE, as none of the lines have the slightest profitability, economic or social, including the way most traffic between Madrid and Barcelona . This means that...

in any line the investment will recover. 

This budget hole  represents  an important economic mortgage  future generations. 

If the line comes to CAV, including the Basque Y is given,  not only never recover the investment but even commercial exploitation will be in deficit, or what is the same,  it will be maintained via taxes. 

This is reflected today  in the  debt of € 18,000 million who earn ADIF and RENFE. 

The very  Spanish Court of Audit  warns of  "the significant uncertainty about the economic viability of the TAV long term given its high debt". 

The huge spending on TAV is assuming an increase in welfare cuts. 

In recent years a clear parallel between TAV costs and the amount of such cuts is observed. 

All this means that, belying the official propaganda that the TAV creates wealth and jobs, the Spanish state is one of the countries in Europe with the highest unemployment rate, with higher levels of job insecurity, less social spending and worldwide one of the states that public debt accumulates both in absolute terms and per capita . 

The works of TAV  is being carried out primarily by subcontractors who employ migrant labor, extremely precarized with employment contracts based on labor agreements in the countries of origin, after exhausting days of work they are leaving an important trail of death (more than 50 in the state in CAV and 6).

Moreover,  the AVE is being formed as the greatest enemy of the conventional train . 

Although 

only 6% of users travel by train TAV, almost 70% of the budget goes to rail AVE. 

It has been shown that  whenever he opens a TAV  decreases dramatically or other online services is definitely closed. 

In the last 25 years 

They have lost about 3,000 km. conventional train. 

To this should be added that the expense of maintaining the TAV is 70% higher than the conventional train. We talk about 100,000 € / km / year. 

Thus becomes the TAV 

an important factor of dislocation of the territory, 

that pushes many road users 

and above does not transport goods. 

Further, in the process of liberalization of the sector it is announced for 2020 we fear that  private operators will keep the benefit of profitable lines  while  the state is left with the debt involved the construction of infrastructure. 

To make matters worse,  we find that 

we may have to pay as ransom the surreal adventures of certain projects led by Spanish companies, as the almost certain frustrated construction of TAV between Mecca and Medina.

Ultimately we can qualify the AVE as an instrument of class power. It is built by poor, with money from the poor  to benefit the business and political elites; and above  only use the rich because the ticket price is prohibitive for the popular classes, which also will be taxed through taxes to fund its maintenance,  while the conventional train used by the poor  is  doomed  to more of dropouts. 

Finally,  the TAV  as has been clearly demonstrated in the recent study of Ekopol,  at all can be justified as aguarantee of energy savings and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, but quite the opposite. 

Hiriberri Mattin

Mattin Hiriberri. (AHT Iruñerriko gelditu! Elkarlana)

Source:  La Haine