Mario Muñoz-Atanet, Andalusia’s regional minister for Public Works and Mobility, took part in the Transport Sectoral Conference and called for a real increase in railway investment and faster delivery of strategic infrastructure in the region. He criticised the absence of Transport Minister Óscar Puente at the meeting, which he said had not been held for four years. Muñoz-Atanet said the conference was important for dialogue between regional governments and the ministry.
On rail, Muñoz-Atanet said the Andalusian government was concerned about declining Cercanías commuter services and slow progress on major projects. He cited falling passenger numbers in Seville and Málaga and called for faster work on the Santa Justa–San Pablo rail link and the Costa del Sol coastal railway, both of which he said had been in the study phase for years. He said projects were making only limited progress, with many feasibility studies but few tangible advances. He also questioned railway maintenance investment figures, saying there had been no real increase in investment to maintain high-speed rail.
Muñoz-Atanet summarised Andalusia’s requests to the ministry in three areas: increased railway maintenance investment, stronger regional participation in decision-making, and faster progress on pending projects. He also asked that draft regulations be sent in advance to working groups and the meeting of directors general so they could be reviewed before approval.
Regarding the state road network, he warned of deterioration on several routes and called for stronger maintenance and resurfacing plans. He cited recurring congestion on the A-7 near Málaga, the AP-4 between Seville and Cádiz, the A-49 towards Huelva and the A-44 between Granada and Motril. He called for long-term infrastructure planning to be paired with temporary measures to ease urgent congestion, and said regional governments, provincial councils and municipalities should be consulted. As an example, he referred to a temporary intervention by the Andalusian government at the access roads to Málaga Technology Park, which he said had ended queues that had persisted for years.
He also asked the ministry to speed up the processing of roadworks under way in Andalusia and consider temporary measures to reduce traffic disruption. These included making the AP-46 toll motorway in Málaga free of charge while works are carried out on the A-45 at Las Pedrizas.
Muñoz-Atanet objected to the proposed composition of the future Sustainable Mobility Territorial Forum, saying it would not ensure balanced representation for regional governments: the ministry would hold a large majority of seats, with only one place for the regions. He also called for the new concession map for road transport to be discussed at a further Sectoral Conference meeting and asked the ministry to provide the information regions need to assess the proposal against existing services.