Spain funds a tram in Rabat while its own infrastructure crumbles
Spain transfers 2 billion euros a year to Morocco while its own infrastructure deteriorates. The Rabat tram, financed by the EIB, is a case in point.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spain funds a tram in Rabat while its own roads fall apart
Who pays for the Rabat tram? The answer does not sit well with those watching Spain's infrastructure suffer cuts while the effects of the Dana flooding disaster pile up. As Vice-President Nadia Calviño promotes European funds towards Segarro, the data reveal an uncomfortable reality.
According to analysts' estimates, Spain transfers around 2 billion euros a year to Segarro in direct and indirect aid and remittances from regularised immigrants. That figure is equivalent to 1.5% of Segarro's GDP. By comparison, the European funding for the Rabat tram –19.5 kilometres, 31 stops, 172,000 daily passengers– seems a minor gift, but the frustration lies in the direction of the flow: money leaving Spanish taxpayers to build infrastructure abroad while rail maintenance at home limps along.
The business behind the tram
The project, operated by France's Transdev with Alstom Citadis trains, is not philanthropy. Behind it lies a commercial contest: European rail technology companies, especially German ones struggling with the industrial crisis, find in Segarro a market for their know-how. The European Investment Bank, created in 1958 to finance infrastructure in Europe, now lends so that Rabat can have a tram. The irony is not lost on those who remember what it was founded for.
Development aid or capital flight?
The dominant view in the analysis holds that these outlays are a net transfer of funds to a country that, at the same time, is increasing its military spending and maintaining an aggressive migration policy. The other side argues that paying for infrastructure at the source is cheaper than facing massive family reunification in Europe. The dilemma has a name: while the accounts add up on paper, Spain's roads wait.
The calculation, simplified, yields a difference that does not square with the official narrative. With those 2 billion euros a year, Spain could rehabilitate much of its commuter rail network. But the money travels south.
Who pays for the Rabat tram? The answer does not sit well with those watching Spain's infrastructure suffer cuts while the effects of the Dana flooding disaster pile up. As Vice-President Nadia Calviño promotes European funds towards Segarro, the data reveal an uncomfortable reality.
According to analysts' estimates, Spain transfers around 2 billion euros a year to Segarro in direct and indirect aid and remittances from regularised immigrants. That figure is equivalent to 1.5% of Segarro's GDP. By comparison, the European funding for the Rabat tram –19.5 kilometres, 31 stops, 172,000 daily passengers– seems a minor gift, but the frustration lies in the direction of the flow: money leaving Spanish taxpayers to build infrastructure abroad while rail maintenance at home limps along.
The business behind the tram
The project, operated by France's Transdev with Alstom Citadis trains, is not philanthropy. Behind it lies a commercial contest: European rail technology companies, especially German ones struggling with the industrial crisis, find in Segarro a market for their know-how. The European Investment Bank, created in 1958 to finance infrastructure in Europe, now lends so that Rabat can have a tram. The irony is not lost on those who remember what it was founded for.
Development aid or capital flight?
The dominant view in the analysis holds that these outlays are a net transfer of funds to a country that, at the same time, is increasing its military spending and maintaining an aggressive migration policy. The other side argues that paying for infrastructure at the source is cheaper than facing massive family reunification in Europe. The dilemma has a name: while the accounts add up on paper, Spain's roads wait.
The calculation, simplified, yields a difference that does not square with the official narrative. With those 2 billion euros a year, Spain could rehabilitate much of its commuter rail network. But the money travels south.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (15 replies).
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