The Generalitat de Catalunya will assume the renovation of the Aitona Segre bridge, an infrastructure from 1917 that suffers from structural and safety problems at a key point for the agricultural activity of Baix Segre. The Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, announced in Aitona that the drafting of the project will be done this year and that the works will begin from 2027 with an investment of over 4 million euros.
The action comes after decades of claims about a crossing on which around 75% of the fruit produced in the municipality depends to reach warehouses and fruit processing plants. The paradox in Aitona is that a basic infrastructure for moving nearly 100 million kilos of fruit per year has remained operational despite its deterioration and accumulated warnings.
The bridge channels 75% of Aitona's fruit
Aitona concentrates 6,500 hectares of cultivation and an annual production close to 100 million kilos of fruit. During the campaign, thousands of tons cross the bridge every day to leave for warehouses and fruit centers in the area.
Dalmau framed the work within the network of infrastructures that sustain daily economic activity and recalled that the fruit that passes through this point is destined for both internal consumption and Catalan exports. In his speech, he defined the action as a "small, but enormously symbolic" work.
"It seemed like a lie" - Albert Dalmau, counselor of the Presidency, Generalitat de Catalunya
The councilor linked the announcement to the Government's will to close a period of lack of interventions on the bridge. The infrastructure has become obsolete, especially since the floods of 1982, although it has received occasional repairs since then.
Rosa Pujol places the claim at more than 50 years
The mayor of Aitona, Rosa Pujol, celebrated the agreement reached with the Generalitat and stressed that the municipality had been demanding a solution for more than 50 years. She also warned that the bridge is in a "very deteriorated" state.
For the City Council, the wear and tear of the structure maintained a constant concern for the safety of residents and agricultural traffic, in a municipal area where the movement of machinery and trucks intensifies during the fruit campaign.
Already in 2019, the Síndic de Greuges had warned of the deficient state of the bridge, a prior alert to the decision now announced by the Generalitat to draft the project this same year.