The Minister for Business and Labour, Miquel Sàmper, painted a glowing future for Lleida this week. In an interview granted to this newspaper, he stated without hesitation that “Lleida is the region with the greatest capacity for growth in all of Catalonia” and singled out the Torreblanca industrial estate as “the most important industrial asset in Catalonia today.” A message that, in a context of energy crisis, rising insecurity, and companies fleeing to Aragon, sounds more like institutional propaganda than a realistic diagnosis. Because while the minister sells a future of “industrial talent” and “exemplary governance,” hauliers in Lleida are demanding decent roads, business owners are denouncing constant power cuts, and Alguaire airport remains a monument to public waste. Let’s analyse, fact by fact, how much truth there is in Sàmper’s optimism and what he prefers to omit.
The Torreblanca industrial estate: genuine opportunity or bureaucratic mirage?
Sàmper does not skimp on praise for Torreblanca. He calls it “the most important industrial asset in Catalonia today” and assures that the Lleida City Council and the Catalan Government are working “jointly” to develop it. He even “makes a direct appeal to the town councils in the province to see Torreblanca as a genuine opportunity to also grow industrially and economically.”
However, the minister omits a crucial detail: Torreblanca has been on the drawing board for years, but its actual development is moving at a snail’s pace. Meanwhile, companies that need industrial land are not waiting. According to data from the Consell de Cambres (Council of Chambers), Lleida led economic growth in Catalonia last year, but that growth is built on fragile foundations: the lack of prepared industrial land is pushing many companies to set up in Huesca, where industrial estates are operational, procedures are faster, and energy costs are lower.
Sàmper’s appeal to town councils sounds like an implicit admission that the project is not progressing on its own. If Torreblanca were truly the priority he claims, it would not need a public plea for mayors to get on board. The reality is that, without connection infrastructure, legal certainty, and a sound energy plan, the industrial estate risks becoming yet another failed megaproject, of the kind this region has seen many of.
The university as a smokescreen: talent that trains then leaves
The minister highlights the University of Lleida as an “ecosystem” to “generate and mobilise industrial talent.” He is not wrong: the UdL produces quality professionals, and its links with the productive fabric are growing. But here comes the uncomfortable question: where does that talent end up?
While Sàmper talks about “mobilising industrial talent,” data from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics show that Lleida continues to lose qualified young people, who emigrate to Barcelona, Madrid, or abroad in search of opportunities. The UdL can produce engineers, but if there are no companies to hire them with competitive salaries and attractive conditions, that talent is lost. And that loss is not stopped by industrial estates on paper; it is stopped by established companies, real investment, and an environment that invites people to stay.
The “ecosystem” Sàmper mentions needs more than good intentions. It needs legal certainty, transport infrastructure connecting Lleida to European markets, and a reliable electricity supply. The minister says nothing about that.
Alguaire airport: the white elephant nobody wants to see
Perhaps the most revealing point of the interview is when Sàmper refers to Alguaire airport. He calls it a “fantastic infrastructure, very well executed, but historically underused.” And he links it to the “Catalan Space Strategy 2026-2030” for the aerospace sector.
Underused is an understatement. Alguaire is a budgetary black hole that has cost Catalan taxpayers hundreds of millions of euros and barely moves passengers. Its link to the aerospace sector sounds like yet another attempt to give it a purpose it has never had. Meanwhile, the citizens of Lleida still lack an airport that competitively connects them with Madrid or Europe.
Sàmper promises that the new Catalan space strategy will give Alguaire a purpose. But precedents do not invite optimism. Every pro-independence government has had its own “magic solution” for the airport, and all have failed. The question is: why would this one work? Without decent rail connections to Barcelona and a realistic business plan, Alguaire will remain what it is: a monument to poor planning and propaganda.
The G10 governance model: exemplary or complicit in stagnation?
Sàmper cites the G10 group as an “exemplary governance system” that includes “unions, business associations, the university.” A social dialogue forum that, according to the minister, shows that things are done well in Lleida.
However, the G10 has been meeting for years, and Lleida’s structural problems remain unresolved. Hauliers are demanding road maintenance and alternative routes after the return of tolls, as reported by this same newspaper on the very day of Sàmper’s interview. Business owners denounce power cuts that halt production. And residents of neighbourhoods hardest hit by insecurity see how the Mossos d’Esquadra are overwhelmed.
If the G10 is the model of exemplary governance, perhaps one should ask what “exemplary” means to the minister. Because for the citizens of Lleida, exemplary would mean promises kept, companies not fleeing to Huesca, and the airport ceasing to be a budgetary drain.
The data that contradicts the rhetoric: growth without roots
The Consell de Cambres points out that Lleida led growth in Catalonia last year and could do so again in 2026. Sàmper uses this data to back his optimism. But economic growth does not always equate to sustainable development.
Lleida is growing, yes, but on precarious foundations. The growth is driven by sectors like logistics and agri-food, which generate employment but not always quality jobs. Meanwhile, manufacturing industry is losing ground, family businesses are closing, and young people are leaving. The growth Sàmper is selling is growth without roots, which neither anchors the population nor generates stable wealth.
Furthermore, the minister omits the security factor. Citizen insecurity is one of the main complaints from business owners in Lleida, who see how thefts in industrial estates and squatting of warehouses scare off investment. Without a serious security plan, the growth Sàmper advocates will always be fragile.
Conclusion: the minister’s rhetoric needs more facts and less propaganda
Miquel Sàmper has engaged in an exercise of institutional optimism that, at this point, is hard to share. Lleida has potential; nobody denies that. But potential is not turned into reality with grand pronouncements and projects on paper. It is turned into reality with real investment, functioning infrastructure, legal certainty, and a government that does not lie to its citizens.
The minister speaks of Torreblanca as the great opportunity, but does not say when it will be operational. He praises the UdL, but does not explain how to retain the talent it trains. He defends Alguaire, but does not acknowledge the failure it has been. And he boasts of the G10, but does not solve the problems denounced by hauliers and business owners.
The citizens of Lleida deserve more than speeches. They deserve action. And while the minister sells mirages, reality will continue to show a province that is losing companies, suffering power cuts, and seeing its young people leave. The growth Sàmper predicts will only be real when it ceases to be propaganda and becomes concrete, measurable, and verifiable public policy. Until then, his optimism will sound like what it is: an attempt to gloss over a reality that, for many in Lleida, remains very harsh.