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Catalan president Quim Torra has today called for "complete sovereignty" in order to overcome the Spanish state's failure to provide finance on matters such as infrastructures. He was speaking at the opening ceremony for the new Barcelona metro line L10 South - bringing the metro to the neighbourhood of La Marina, on the southern side of Montjuïc mountain, after 40 years of demands from local residents.

Torra gave "a sincere apology" for the delay in responding to "such a just demand" from residents for improved mobility. It was a demand that had "been delayed too long", to a large extent, he said, due to the lack of funding. For this reason he made a call "for full sovereignty, so that people are not choked any further" and appealed for an end to government that "puts patches" on problems, and instead one that "creates the infrastructure model we deserve and generate with the effort of our labours". 

inaugural journey L10 /ACN

Ada Colau and Quim Torra (third and fourth from left) with the rest of the official group at the opening of the new L10 South / Photo: ACN

Fewer riot police and more infrastructures

For the Catalan president, it is key that if people want "more and better stations, we need more funding" and this is only possible, he said "with complete sovereignty". He quoted data to demonstrate the lack of investment by the Spanish government in infrastructures. Billions of euros had been supposedly allocated in Spanish budgets, for works that were never executed, he said. In the last two years and a half, said Torra, the Catalan government had invested 2,300 million euros in infrastructures and that since 2011, 30 kilometres of new lines had been built for the metro and Catalan-controlled FGC network. "However, since 1978, the Spanish government has not put into service even one kilometre of new line in the Rodalies" - the suburban rail network controlled by the Spanish authorities. Torra concluded: "We don't need so many riot police, but we do need more kilometres of infrastructure."

Colau called for the release of the Catalan prisoners

Barcelona mayor Ada Colau also spoke at the inauguration, recalling that the opening of the two new stations had been possible thanks to collaboration between the Barcelona city council and the Catalan government, thanks to an agreement between two men: Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras and minister Josep Rull - both of whom are now imprisoned. When Colau mentioned their names, she called for their release: "We hope that very soon they will be able to take the metro and physically stand in this station", she said. From prison, Minister Rull sent a tweet celebrating the entry into service of this new stretch of the metro's L10 South line.

Translation: Today 2 metro stations on #L10Sud enter into service, which we initiated in the previous Catalan legislature, a time when some said that we did not govern. We did this. We have always governed, for the present and future of Catalonia. For us, these are two aspects that are inseparable. Let's continue!  — Josep Rull and Andreu

Rull's successor as minister, Damià Calvet, said that the ticket for the first journey on the new stretch of metro was dedicated to his predecessor:

Translation: The first ticket sold for the new L10 South metro line is dedicated to you, minister @joseprull, on behalf of president @QuimTorraiPla and the departmental team at TES, your team. Thank you for your determination and for having been able to build the mutual supports to make it possible! #ThanksRull — Damià Calvet

As well as the two new stations opened today, Foc and Foneria, the L10 South line shares three other existing stations with L9 South: Collblanc, Torrassa and Can Tries-Gornal, giving it connections to L5 and L1 of the Barcelona metro system.