At the end of January, the association AHT Pause denounced that the workers working in the AVE of Navarre are in a situation of slavery, given the testimonies of some of the workers who had worked there for this purpose. The Adif, in charge of the construction of the railways in Spain, refutes the allegations. Saturday’s demonstration will denounce these working conditions and the fact that this project “enslaves society as a whole” with the following heading: “AAV enslaves us. Let’s break the k-aht of progress.”

The works of the Navarre Fast Train began in 2009 and in January the General Director of Transport of the Spanish Government, Berta Miranda, said that the Castejon-Pamplona section could be operational by 2027. Now they are doing the part between Tafalla and Campanas and, according to him, it will be finished by 2026 at the latest. The Pamplona Station will arrive in the neighborhood of Etxabakoitz, but since the construction of this will be delayed a lot, the government says that the train will leave without the Pamplona station and that 20 minutes will advance in this part.

The Knot of Thyme

The fast train will go from Pamplona to Sakana, but there is still a big knot to untie, as the Spanish government has not decided whether it will go from Ezkio or Vitoria. Government officials, both with the PP and the PSOE, have repeatedly expressed their support for the Vitoria-Gasteiz link, but no final decision has yet been taken. However, in Sakana, surveys are being carried out to better analyze –not without problems– the Ezkio project. It is expected that the Ezkio project –55 kilometres and 21 of them the tunnel under Aralar– would cost 2 billion euros and the Vitoria-Gasteiz project would cost around 700 million euros.

The Basque Government, the PNV, Geroa Bai and the UPN are pushing hard for the link to be made from Ezkio, but not without a slot, since the Provincial Council of Álava, which commands the PNV, for example, supports the link in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The ecological deterioration in both options is considerable, especially in Aralar, although supporters of Ezkioko say that the Vitoria-Gasteiz option would also severely damage the Barranco, the old road and the motorway that it now has, because it would add the AVE railway and thus saturate the valley.

The high speed... Up to Irun

One of the main arguments of the supporters of the Basque projects of the AVE has always been to have a good and modern connection with Europe. However, the French government has informed the Spanish government that the fast train will not arrive in Hendaye until at least 2042.

A $15 billion investment?

It is always wrong to get involved in the issue of the cost of AAV. The construction of the Basque Y began in 2006, but it still does not have an end date, mainly because the stations of the capitals are not yet built. The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility of the Spanish Government, Oscar Puente, recently visited San Sebastian this week and said that already 5 billion euros have been spent in the Basque Y and almost 4 billion euros are still to be invested. The investments to be made in the Navarrese part are still unclear, but they can amount to at least 3,000-4 billion euros; the amount can vary considerably if it goes from Ezkio or Vitoria-Gasteiz. In any case, high-speed investment with both projects could approach €15 billion.