Speech by President of the Government at inauguration of 1812 Constitution Bridge

Cadiz

Madam President of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Madam Minister for Public Works, Mr Mayor of the city of Cadiz, government representative, public officials, ladies and gentlemen,

There are few days when we can celebrate such good news as what we are here to celebrate today. With the unveiling of this bridge in Cadiz we can finally look back and see the magnitude of the efforts undertaken and feel that a great effort such as this has been worthwhile, and has risen to the expectations of our citizens.

But this 1812 Constitution Bridge made us think, above all, about what we must always be thinking, about the future, about how right we were to have committed to an infrastructure that will provide a service to the people of Cadiz for generations to come, and about the joyful culmination of works that will serve people, that will hugely simplify their day-to-day lives and that will tremendously affect economic growth and employment in the whole region, which is undoubtedly the most important challenge we are facing: to grow and create jobs in the whole region, and particularly here, in the province of Cadiz.

This all undoubtedly constitutes grounds for joy, but also makes us feel proud. As from today, and affectionately known as "De La Pepa", it is already one of the flagships and most spectacular infrastructures not only in Spain, but in the whole of Europe. This feat of engineering ranks high in the major achievements of Spanish talent. This work exemplifies our commitment to the avant-garde and to technology, and to something else that is no less important - a commitment to the environment in a unique enclave such as the ecosystem of the Bahía Natural Park.

For these reasons, the first thing I wish to do, on this day in which so much hard work put in over these last few years finally has its day of recognition, is to acknowledge and thank all the hard work of the companies, of the workers, of the operators, and there have been many of them, who have put in all their hard work and all their interest in this project: a project which I would even dare to say opens up a new era.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Just a few figures are enough for us to admire the magnitude of these great civil works: more than 3 kilometres long, we are talking about the third longest bridge in Europe in terms of its effective span, after only the Normandy Bridge and the Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece. Furthermore, it is the second maritime bridge with the greatest vertical clearance after the Verrazano Bridge in New York, and ahead of such other iconic structures as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge, also in New York.

And so, the people of Cadiz are going to enjoy a feat of engineering of world-class level and hundreds of thousands of people - from El Puerto de Santa María, Puerto Real, San Fernando, Chiclana, the provincial capital of Cadiz and anyone else who has the opportunity to come to this wonderful city - will benefit from saving thousands of hours in travel time, which they can then use for other activities each day.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to say, and this coincides with what the President of the Regional Government has said, that this bridge would not have been possible without the collaboration of everyone and that great works always need this spirit of cooperation, of unity and of loyalty. Neither is it any less true that this new bridge in Cadiz has also been an example of the commitment from all tiers of government to infrastructure; here in Cadiz, also in Andalusia and in Spain as a whole.

You are aware that the last few years have been tough from a budgetary point of view. All of our public authorities and citizens have had to tighten their belts because we have gone through the harshest economic crisis that Spain has seen in decades, but despite this, we have continued to build infrastructures in our country and, despite this, our public authorities have been aware that in order to grow, in order to create jobs and in order to increase well-being it is key, because this helps the competitiveness of our companies, to build infrastructures.

The government has invested, between 2012 and 2016, or it has allocated, more than 10 billion euros in infrastructure in Andalusia, making it the leading autonomous region in investor commitment over the last few years. We are seeing the fruits here and shortly we will also see this in other provinces in Andalusia.

I will now draw to a close, ladies and gentlemen.

The Spanish are bridge-builders. People in many countries on the five continents are aware of this, and they have no doubts about turning to the talent of our companies to execute major, high-quality works. It is good for us to be aware of that. Sometimes, we have a certain tendency to talk about everything that is wrong. But Spain is a great country; it is a great nation, where there are things that we can feel proud of: our infrastructures, our railways, our motorways and highways, our Welfare State, our public services, our pension system, our healthcare system, our education system… Things can obviously be improved upon; that goes without saying. It is impossible to have something that cannot be improved upon, but we should also be aware of what we are, and to see that you only need to take a trip anywhere around the world.

In this regard, I wish to say that Spanish companies are currently carrying out infrastructure works of great importance in many places around the world; works such as the Panama Canal, the high-speed railway between Mecca and Medina or the metro system in great cities around the world. That is something that should undoubtedly make us all feel proud.

Finally, I want to say that, if there is one infrastructure with a symbolic value, that is undoubtedly this bridge, because bridges unite territories, bridges connect people, they forge exchanges, they open us up to the world and, in short, they bring us all together while allowing us to open up new horizons.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This great work that we open today will be a permanent reminder to everyone of all the major achievements we are capable of making as Spaniards when we truly build on pillars of understanding and concord.

Thank you very much.