Gorguel macro-container port construction could begin by 2020

The Murcia government highlights the potential of the proposed macro-dock in Cartagena

Antonio Sevilla, the president of the Port Authority in Cartagena, speculated on Thursday of last week that work could begin within “three or four years” to build the proposed macro-container port in El Gorguel, a few kilometres to the east of Cartagena, although he was careful to qualify this prediction with the uncertainty which arises from the numerous environmental and administrative hurdles which still have to be overcome. 

No doubt he was wary of falling into the trap of excessive optimism, remembering that his predecessor Adrián Ángel Viudes forecast five years ago that construction would begin in 2014!

Sr Sevilla was speaking alongside Pedro Rivera, the minister for Infrastructures and Development in the regional government, at the Colegio Oficial de Economistas in Murcia, where he explained that at present the Port Authority is carrying out the necessary environmental studies to be submitted to the European Commission in Brussels. These studies need to show, among other things, how any effect on the nearby Sites of Community Interest both on land and at sea will be minimal, and that the ZEPA birdlife protection zone will not be harmed. 

Before being presented to Brussels these documents will be reviewed by the Spanish national government, and it can then be supposed that it will take over a year for the EC to evaluate their validity. If the conclusions are accepted the construction product for the new docks in El Gorguel could then be put out to tender.

Assuming that this controversial project does indeed go ahead, the economists and business community of Murcia are convinced that it will provide an important boost to a variety of industries in the Region, including those concerned with food, wine, furniture and others involved in export. Pedro Rivera estimates that the capacity to deal with 2 million TEU intermodal containers per year will create some 16,000 jobs, and will give Murcia an enormous advantage following forecasts that the amount of shipping to and from the Region will continue to grow until 2030.

As a result of Thursday’s meeting an agreement has been signed by which the Port Authority, the government and the Colegio de Economistas will compile a full analysis of the potential effects of the proposed facility in El Gorguel, but in general terms it appears clear that all three are already certain that the benefits will be substantial!