Reviving the Motril–Granada–Guadix Rail Dream
- Granada’s rail debate has folded two stalled projects into one map: a Motril-Granada link and the defunct Guadix-Baza-Lorca corridor toward Murcia. - The Guadix-Baza-Lorca reopening study, awarded in January 2022 for €979,194, was still in “phase zero” in November 2023 and was later ruled unviable. - The push persists after Brussels excluded Granada-Motril from the core European network and Madrid rejected Guadix-Baza-Lorca. (granadahoy.com)
Granada province’s rail argument now revolves around two missing links: a new line from Granada to Motril and a reopened Guadix-Baza-Lorca route toward Murcia. (granadahoy.com 1) (granadahoy.com 2) They solve different problems. Motril is Spain’s only mainland commercial port without a rail connection, while Guadix-Baza-Lorca would restore the direct eastward rail outlet Granada’s north lost when the line closed on January 1, 1985. (granadahoy.com 1) (granadahoy.com 2) The Motril leg has been pursued as a new-build freight-and-passenger connection between Granada and the Port of Motril. In December 2023, local institutions and business groups were dealt a setback when the European Union left the project out of the revised Trans-European Transport Network. (granadahoy.com) That decision mattered because inclusion in the European network is the easiest route to European co-financing. Julio Rodríguez, head of Motril’s chamber of commerce, said the rejection wiped out months of lobbying and left supporters trying to “arm” the project better for the next round. (granadahoy.com) The Guadix-Baza-Lorca fight followed a different path: Madrid did commission a formal study. The Transport Ministry awarded the drafting contract in January 2022 to a joint venture of TPF Getinsa Euroestudios and Subterra Ingeniería for €979,194.48, with a 24-month timetable. (granadahoy.com) By November 2023, that study had not moved beyond “phase zero,” the preliminary review of route options, demand, environmental constraints and economic viability. Granada Hoy reported that the contract should by then have been nearing its fourth and final phase. (granadahoy.com) Then came the harder blow. In September 2024, the ministry’s memorandum concluded that none of the four Guadix-Lorca alternatives justified development on demand or socioeconomic-return grounds. (granadahoy.com) The same report said projected passenger traffic would still not reach one million annual users by 2070, and that even the best option had a 100% probability of a negative net present value. Local rail groups in Baza and Guadix rejected the findings immediately. (granadahoy.com) That rejection quickly turned into a coordinated political campaign. On September 23, 2024, Granada’s provincial council, rail campaigners and business groups created a joint working table, agreed to seek a meeting with Transport Minister Óscar Puente, and called for fresh studies from Andalusia, Murcia, the University of Granada and independent experts. (granadahoy.com) Supporters argue the two missing links belong to the same economic picture. Business leaders in Guadix, Baza and the Costa Tropical say a restored northern line and a Motril port connection would give Granada province both a Mediterranean freight outlet and an inland logistics axis. (granadadigital.es) (granadahoy.com) That is why the “Motril-Granada-Guadix rail dream” keeps resurfacing even after official setbacks. One project lacks European-network backing, the other has been declared unviable by Madrid, and both remain alive because local institutions still treat them as unfinished business. (granadahoy.com) (granadahoy.com)
