The Irungo footbridge project will be redone as a result of…

The Basque Government has published the first addendum for the modification and extension of the agreement signed with Adif and the Irun City Council to rewrite the construction project and carry out the works for the urban footbridge in Irun. Resolution 101/2026, dated October 19, issued by Jon Iñaki Urbina García de Vicuña, was published in issue number 205 of the Official Gazette of the Basque Country on October 27, 2026, with official reference 2026/4510. The text specifies that the cost of the new project is 7,713,269.58 euros excluding VAT, and the duration of the agreement will be extended by two years.

The original text of the agreement dates from December 1, 2022, and was signed by three parties: the Irun City Council, the Basque Government —then acting as the General Administration of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country— and Adif (Railway Infrastructure Administrator). The objective was clear: to build an urban footbridge with access to the new travel building to ensure transverse permeability around the train station and to connect the new building with the city. The agreement covered the drafting of the project, the execution of the works, commissioning, conservation, and subsequent maintenance tasks.

Blockage regarding the Nave Almacén 77 building

Adif initially interrupted the construction project commission because it failed to achieve technical approval. The layout of the footbridge clashed with the warehouse known as Nave Almacén 77, and that warehouse had a protection proposal from the Basque Government’s Department of Cultural Heritage (Departamento de Patrimonio Cultural). The project, which lacked final technical approval, had an execution period of 23 months and an execution budget of 6.66 million euros, excluding VAT.

Subsequently, the Department of Cultural Heritage issued a new report on December 1, 2022, which specified the previous one and requested the maintenance of the largest volume along the length of the warehouse that was compatible with the footbridge. Upon knowing this report, the Monitoring Committee meeting on October 16, 2023, concluded that the footbridge project could be carried out along with the reinforcement of a part of the warehouse, but that the construction process had to be adjusted. To this end, Adif approved a modification to the project drafting contract on December 21, 2023, with an additional 207,853.07 euros.

Complete redesign due to the Topo layout

In February 2024, Adif received a request from the Basque Government via the Basque Railway Network (ETS): to integrate the Topo infrastructure alongside the railway tracks, with the projected layout passing through the warehouses located in the VIAIRUN area in one section, including Nave Almacén 77. In a meeting held on April 30, 2024, Adif accepted the proposal at the railway level, but deemed it necessary to separate the execution of the footbridge into two projects, as the definition of the support in the VIAIRUN area presented great uncertainty and delaying the works could condition the operation of the new travel building and the station.

In the meeting held on July 10, 2024, the Irun City Council requested that the two phases of the footbridge be carried out in a single project. Since the railway environment would be different from the project initially contracted, it was necessary to liquidate the existing contract and contract a new project, so that the footbridge could be executed separately from the works on the passenger building. This led directly to the processing of this addendum: to update the economic obligations and extend the duration of the agreement.

New budget, 7,713,269.58 euros excluding VAT

The addendum rewrites the sixth clause of the agreement and divides the costs into four groups:

Drafting of the construction project: 909,780.55 euros.
Drafting management, 5% of the drafting cost: 45,489.03 euros.
Works via contract: 6,200,000 euros, excluding VAT.
Management, safety and health coordination, environmental support for the works, and quality control services, 9% of the cost of the works: 558,000 euros.
Total: 7,713,269.58 euros, excluding VAT.

The text notes that the final cost may be conditioned by the results of the project, award discounts, price revisions, and future changes. If the limit of 7,713,269.58 euros is exceeded, it will be analyzed by the Monitoring Committee and a new addendum will be required, with the agreement of all parties.

Financing between three organizations

The expense will be divided among three organizations, in the same proportion established in the initial agreement, and the amounts, excluding VAT, are as follows:

Adif: 33.33%, 2,570,832.75 euros.
Basque Government: 22.22%, 1,713,888.50 euros.
Irun City Council: 44.45%, 3,428,548.33 euros.

Payments are scheduled annually: 685,216.76 euros in 2025, 1,522,703.92 euros in 2026, and 2,664,731.85 euros in 2027 and 2028. Furthermore, the Monitoring Committee may approve the adjustment of the annual distribution, provided that the overall amount is not increased and the duration is not extended.

The duration will be extended by two years after the initially agreed period ends, to meet the need to rewrite the project and carry out the works. The Monitoring Committee is renewed: it will have two representatives from each party, will meet at least every three months, will make decisions unanimously, and the role of president will be held by Adif. The addendum was signed on March 24, 2025, by Cristina Laborda Albolea, Mayor of Irun, Susana García Chueca, Minister of Sustainable Mobility, and Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, president of Adif.

Entry into force and publication details

The addendum takes effect upon its registration in the state public sector’s Registro Electrónico estatal de Órganos e Instrumentos de Cooperación, in accordance with article 48.8 of Law 40/2015, and respecting the publicity regulations established in Law 3/2022 for the Basque Public Sector. Although the signature was in March 2025, the publication took place on October 27, 2026, and the text is now known to the citizens.

The new walkway must connect both sides of the station for pedestrians, but the delays and cost increases show how much heritage protections and the layouts of other major works—in this case, the Topo—condition projects involving urban and railway infrastructure. The two-year extension and the commitment of approximately 7.7 million euros are not merely a workaround: the three administrations have decided to continue with a single project, and this entails shared responsibility in meeting deadlines as well as controlling costs.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, number 205, October 27, 2026, Otras Disposiciones section, p. 2026/4510 (official reference: 2026/4510).