The Port Authority of Algeciras (La Autoridad Portuaria de la Bahia de Algeciras, APBA) and the Public Agency of Andalusian Ports (La Agencia Publica de Puertos de Andalucia, APPA) has announced they will invest EUR 8 mln in building a new area for container operations in the logistics zone of San Roque, near the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway line.
The area will be designed to serve as an inland terminal on a land plot of 120 hectares, which will allow shipping lines to optimize their logistics processes for the cargo that is exported and imported via the port of Algeciras.
This was announced yesterday at the APBA office at the meeting with heads of the Gibraltar Strait logistics companies and representatives of the Andalusian Ministry of Development (La Consejeria de Fomento de la Junta de Andalucia).
Felipe Lopez, the Ministry counselor, explained that this project had become possible thanks to the agreement between the regional government and the port of Algeciras. In the coming weeks both administrations are expected to sign an agreement for the implementation of this infrastructural development. The agreement will outline the financial arrangement (80% – APPA and 20% – APBA) as well as the conditions of the terminal’s operation, which will be managed by an operator selected through a proper concession granting process.
“The Andalusian government confirms its commitment to transform the Gibraltar Strait region into a large logistics and commercial platform of the southern Europe with an international footprint, for which EUR 100 mln has already been invested in the areas of Fresno and San Roque,” said Felipe Lopez. – “Today, with this agreement, we make a further step forward, together with APBA, to provide the San Roque zone with an area which would add more value to container handling and would allow to free space in the port of Algeciras to accommodate additional import and export volumes.”
The Ministry counselor has also mentioned the state of the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway, stressing that it is necessary to “recover the lost time and accelerate the investment processes”, as this issue had already been raised in the EU Transport Commission.
Manuel Moron, the APBA president, has added that the Port of Algeciras will now not renounce the new route between Ronda and Antequera of the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway, the split of the section between Algeciras and San Roque, nor the modernization of the section Bobadilla-Madrid – the rail projects earlier stopped due to the development of the TEN-T project.