PP demands Public Works delays AVE rail contracts in Galicia

The incoming Popular Party (PP) government of Mariano Rajoy has asked the Public Works Ministry to delay all contracts for the construction of the high-speed AVE rail service in Galicia that have not yet been formalized this year, according to government sources.

PP officials asked José Blanco, the outgoing minister, "first informally and later formally" to put off any contracts and bids that are scheduled to be awarded in the coming days. It is part of the PP's ongoing assessments to ensure that there is enough money in the government's coffers to finance the project, officials from the conservative party's incoming administration say.

Public Works already announced some 1.3 billion euros in bids for 50 kilometers of rail in May and June that were awarded in September and October respectively. However, tenders put up in July - worth some one billion euros - won't be awarded until after the new government is sworn in just before Christmas. This entire delay could take up to two months.

"Absolutely nothing has been halted," said Galicia's regional premier Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also of the PP, on Tuesday. "What we have here is an outgoing government, and naturally the bids that have not been entirely formalized should be left to the incoming government."

The high-speed AVE rail line that will eventually connect Madrid with Galicia is still under construction from Valladolid — the city where the AVE currently ends - to the outskirts of Zamora near the Galician province of Ourense. On Saturday, Blanco is expected to inaugurate a high-speed Avant rail service - a prologue to the eventual AVE service — between the Galician cities of A Coruña and Ourense.

The Galician AVE rail contracts are not the only projects the PP have asked to be deferred. Party officials have demanded that contracts for the extension of the A-66 highway between Zamora and Benavente also be halted until the PP comes to office.

But the outgoing Socialist government has asked the PP to put its demands in writing before officials decide whether to accept these petitions. Núñez Feijóo, who attended Tuesday's ceremony in Congress to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of Spain's Constitution, explained that not only was it "normal" to allow the contracts that have already been awarded to remain intact but also to allow the new Cabinet to decide on those bids that have not been completely formalized.

The PP government in Galicia has long accused Madrid of delaying work on the AVE rail service in the region - a charge that Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government has denied.

Public Works officials say the PP's demands for contract reviews will also affect services including maintenance and cleaning contracts.