After the political agreement on the "modernization" of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport was made public, the private sector continues to insist on the expansion and proposes the creation of a marine runway. The initial proposal of the airport company AENA, which consisted of extending the third runway by 500 meters, occupying land it owns adjacent to the La Ricarda private estate, declared a protected area, was discarded due to opposition from environmental associations, since that endangered the ecosystem of the Llobregat delta and is contrary to climate commitments. Now, a group headed by the engineer Joaquim Coello, proposed the runway over the sea, which would only be used for takeoffs, according to information from Tourinews. According to Crónica Global, the group behind the new plan estimates that the work could be built in four years, the runway would be linked to the rest of the aerodrome by means of a walkway and it would not be necessary to build a new terminal, as was proposed in the idea of AENA. This new runway would occupy 3,500 meters and would be located 1,500 meters from the coast, rising 10 meters above the sea. Its cost is estimated at 2.2 billion euros, a higher figure than the 1.7 billion proposed by the airport entity. The College of Economists of Catalonia (CEC) considers that this expansion would serve to position Barcelona and Spain as intercontinental references, even Mas Colell, former Minister of Economy of the Generalitat, pointed out that it is a serious and brilliant proposal and that, despite to invade the lagoon of La Ricarda, it would be a step forward for the Delta. It is still unknown if this construction can be carried out; if achieved, it would be the first runway over the sea at an airport in Spain. In other parts of the world there are large-scale examples of this type of project, such as the Kansai International Airport (Osaka, Japan), and Chek Lap Kok International Airport, in Hong Kong, both built on artificial islands.
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