They pointed out that the Spanish State is the country with the most kilometres of high-speed rail and, at the same time, the least passenger ratio per kilometre. In Hego Euskal Herria, “if all the sections of the TAV were to be built, the ratio of kilometers per million inhabitants would double the Spanish state”.

The manifesto emphasizes what this means economically: “The coronavirus crisis, as the Basque Government initially targeted the self-employed, amounts to the construction of 100 metres of the TAV (EUR 3 million). In addition, the EUR 2.5 million for cultural professionals, on the other hand, corresponds to 83 metres of the APR. The building for the Unified Laboratory of the Hospital Complex of Navarra is 656 meters from the TAV. On the other hand, the cost of the TAV section between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Iruña/Pamplona could allow the construction of 32 hospitals like the one that opened a year and a half ago in Eibar. While governments have made huge investments in infrastructure such as the TAV, there have been strong cutbacks in areas that are fundamental to life, such as Health or Social Services. A reflection of this has been what we have seen in recent weeks: overcrowded hospitals, double shifts of health personnel, nursing homes converted into abattoirs, dead people in solitude, hotels suddenly transformed into hospitals, many women who make masks in their homes…”.

Upgrading the conventional train network

Consequently, the signatories have called for the "immediate cessation of the works of the TAV and the cessation of their new projects". Instead, they are betting on maintaining and improving the conventional train network we currently have: “It is the one that communicates towns, cities and industrial sites, that transports people and goods, that is based on a territorial organization that ensures that all areas are communicated and that it is economically accessible to anyone.”

They demand that the economic investment of the APR be directed towards the most urgent sectors: “A public health system with sufficient staff and resources; the care of the elderly, dependents and their caretakers; dignified pensions; basic income for all; quality public education; promotion of the Basque country; election to food sovereignty; quality social services; valuation of care; protection of people living in sectors heavily hit by the Covid-19 crisis (small businesses, body builders…)”.

In this regard, they have stressed the need to adopt new economic models that take account of the ecological and social crisis.