Barcelona and Madrid are getting closer to one another

The first high-speed trains to link Madrid and Barcelona in just over two and a half hours were finally launched on February 20th, after years of delays and polemics. The daily considers that the new link (621 km) is "crucial ... [allowing] the rapprochement of Spain's two main economic and cultural capitals. ... The new rail transport of the 21st century will, no doubt, have a very positive impact on the two capitals, economically and socially as well as in terms of tourism and culture, as well as for Spain at large. AVE connections are also planned between Barcelona, Lerida and Tarragona, as well as with Gerona. The shortening of temporal distance actually implies a modification of the map of Catalonia. New economic, commercial and demographic tendencies will emerge as a result."

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