Aena, Spain's national airports company, has awarded a €2.68 million contract to draw up a new master plan for Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport, the technical document that will set out how the agreed expansion is to be carried out. For residents near El Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona business travellers who use the airport, the decision marks the formal start of the planning phase, but not immediate construction.
The contract has been awarded to a temporary joint venture formed by Mott MacDonald Spain and IDOM Consultoria, Enginyeria i Arquitectura, according to Aena's procurement portal. The tender file is listed as DPM 525/2025 on Aena's contracting platform, where the award can be checked directly.
"In the coming weeks we will put out to tender the drafting of the new Master Plan for Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport," Aena chairman and chief executive Maurici Lucena said in an official company statement announcing the next step in the project.
The new master plan is the document that orders the airport's long-term layout and technical development. Aena says it will define the actions needed for the expansion agreed with the Generalitat, the Catalan government, just over a year ago.
What the contract covers
Aena's tender documents describe the job as the drafting of the master plan for Barcelona-El Prat airport. The award value published on the procurement portal is €2,680,000.
- Contracting body: Aena
- File reference: DPM 525/2025
- Awarded amount: €2.68 million
- Winning bidders: Mott MacDonald Spain and IDOM Consultoria, Enginyeria i Arquitectura
For passengers, the immediate effect is administrative rather than operational. Flights, terminals and access arrangements remain unchanged while the master plan is drafted and processed.
Years of planning before any works begin
Aena has said in its official material on the airport expansion that the master plan is one of the required steps before works can start. That means people living around the airport and firms that depend on air links should expect a lengthy approval process first, including technical and environmental procedures.
On Aena's information pages about the Barcelona-El Prat expansion, the company presents the scheme as part of the airport's future development as an international hub. The detailed shape of that expansion is what this newly awarded contract is intended to define.
Readers who want to follow the administrative process can check the official tender file on Aena's procurement portal and Aena's project information page on the Barcelona-El Prat expansion. The current decision is the award of the drafting contract, not approval of construction works.
Primary sources: Aena (Spanish National Airports Company), Aena (Spanish National Airports Company), Aena (Spanish National Airports Company), Aena (National Airports System of Spain), Aena (National Airports System of Spain), Aena (National Airports Company). Reported by IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture S.A.U., Ministerio de Hacienda (Spanish Ministry of Finance), El Periódico (CA).
