(Ferrovial) 2000 - 2008

In February 2000, Ferrovial Agroman was awarded a contract worth nearly 10 billion pesetas to renovate Miguel Servet hospital in Zaragoza.

On 3 April 2000, the Ferrovial-Agroman joint venture officially obtained a contract worth 104 billion pesetas to build the new terminal at Madrid Barajas Airport.

Construction of large shopping centers: Centro Ciudad Lineal (Madrid), Heron-City (Las Rozas), Company Store Las Rozas and Planetocio (Villalba, Madrid).

In April 2000, Ferrovial acquired 36.68% of Budimex, one of Poland's largest construction companies; this improved Ferrovial's possibilities of developing and expanding in Central Europe, where the construction sector is undergoing changes and growing rapidly.

In May 2000, Ferrovial became a strategic shareholder of Budimex by increasing its stake to 58.5%.

In early June 2000, Ferrovial Agroman plus 4 of Spain's largest construction companies created Build2build, Spain's largest e-business portal for the construction industry.

On 30 June 2000, the Shareholders' Meeting of Ferrovial Agroman resolved to make a delisting tender offer for 0.67% of Ferrovial Agroman. This transaction completed the integration process of the construction business into Grupo Ferrovial and made Ferrovial the Group's only listed stock.

On 3 July 2000, Ferrovial Agroman obtained a contract worth 10.650 billion pesetas to build subsection III-A platform of the Lleida-Barcelona (Martorell) section of the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-French border high-speed railway.

In September 2000, Ferrovial Agroman started to build an over 12-km section of the Southern Portugal toll road with a budget of 11.5 billion pesetas. This road will be built in 20 months and runs from San Bartolomé de Messinas to the Algarve shadow toll road that Ferrovial is building and will manage for 30 years. 130.- In October 2000, Ferrovial Agroman's Costa del Sol toll road won the Acueducto de Segovia Award.

In October 2000, Ferrovial Agroman's Costa del Sol toll road won the Acueducto de Segovia Award.

In November 2000, Ferrovial obtained a contract worth 99.5 billion pesetas to build the R-4 toll road, Spain's largest civil engineering project, and operate it for 65 years.

In November 2000, Ferrovial Agroman obtained a contract worth 2.5 billion pesetas to build the Festival Park Marratxi Leisure Center in Palma de Mallorca.

In December 2000, Ferrovial Agroman obtained a contract worth 19 billion pesetas to raise the height of the Yesa dam on the Aragón river, including the corrective environmental measures and the land restoration plan.

In March 2001, Ferrovial Agroman obtained the contract to build the Norte Litoral shadow toll road in Portugal. The 41 km of new construction will link Oporto with Caminha on the border with Spain.

Also in March, Ferrovial Agroman, through its division of Quality, Environment and Health & Safety, subscribed a collaboration agreement with the Centre for Environmental Sciences of Spain's Higher Institute of Scientific Research (CSIC). Ferrovial Agroman's aim in signing this Agreement is to improve the Quality and profitability of revegetation techniques.

In April 2001, Ferrovial Agroman obtained the contract to renovate and expand the Buenavista Palace to house the Picasso Museum in Málaga.

In May 2001, Ferrovial Agroman was awarded the prize Premio Acueducto de Segovia for Civil Works and Environment, bestowed by the Madrid Civil Works Engineering Association.

Also in May, Ferrovial Agroman was awarded the tender for enlarging Terminal A at Barcelona Airport, for a sum 4,200 million pesetas.

In June 2001, Budimex obtained a strategic contract worth 138 million euros (the largest ever in Warsaw) to build 3.7 km of urban access roads to link with the bridge over the river Wisla in the city center.

On 16 July 2001, Ferrovial Agroman obtained the contract to build the Plasencia (south)-Cañaveral (east) section of the La Plata toll road worth 12.6 billion pesetas.

In Fuenlabrada, on 20 November last, the inauguration was held of the sports facilities that the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos awarded at the time to Ferrovial Agroman, whose executive team for the development has been the Management of Zone III, pertaining to the Delegation of Madrid Building I. The events that were held on the university campus were attended by the Real Madrid player, Raúl González Blanco, whose name graces this sports complex. Besides the traditional cutting of the tape, the events continued with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, which was followed by a football match between former players of Real Madrid and a team made up of staff from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, and ended with a fireworks display as grand finale to an inauguration that attracted over five thousand people.

In September 2001, Ferrovial Agroman won the tender for the construction work on Line 8 of the Barcelona Metro, for the 4T Bon Pastor-Can Zam stretch, with a budget of 64,500 million pesetas.

In January 2002, Ferrovial Agroman was awarded the Teruel-Santa Eulalia del Campo stretch of the dual carriageway running from Levante to France through Aragon. The budget for this project amounted to 59 million euros.

On 31 January 2002, notification was received of the adjudication of Hotel Benal Beach Gardens in Benalmádena (Malaga), with a budget of 30 million euros.

Also in January, work began on the Yanbu Desalination Plant in Saudi Arabia for the Royal Commission by Jubail and Yanbu, with a budget of 20 million euros.

On 14 March 2002, the opening took place of stretch II of the M-45, one of the more representative projects in the Community of Madrid. Starting at the future Radial 3 circular road, it runs for 14.46 km through the districts of Vicálvaro, Vallecas and Villaverde until it links up with the N-IV. This project will help to improve communications between the south of Madrid and the Henares Corridor.

On 9 August 2002, the Estepona-Guadiaro stretch of the Autopista del Sol highway was opened to traffic, eight months ahead of schedule. The project involves an investment of 180 million euros and its license will extend for 55 years. This stretch, with an overall length of 23 km, is the second toll motorway to be built and managed by Autopista del Sol in the province of Malaga. In 1996, this venture headed by Cintra (Ferrovial) was awarded the construction and management, for a period of 50 years, of the Malaga-Estepona stretch, running to a total of 83 Km and an investment of close to 450 m euros.

In Poland, in November 2002, Ferrovial Agroman was adjudicated the construction of the Skoczow-Cieszyn stretch of the S1 Bjelsko Biala highway, for a sum of 20.9 million euros.

In November 2002, Ferrovial was awarded the licence for its first toll motorway in Ireland, the N4/N6 Kinnegad Kilcock, which was the first toll motorway tendered in the country and involved an estimated investment of between 250 and 380 m euros and a concession period of 30 years. Measuring 35 km in length of new construction, the motorway is part of the corridor that links Dublin to the country's northwestern region. The building of the motorway, which began in 2003,was carried out by a joint venture partnership formed by Ferrovial Agroman and SIAC. The motorway became operational in 2006.

In January 2003, Ferrovial Agroman was awarded the construction of the Caupolican axis - the stetch km 667.363 - km 674.6138, Temuco, in Chile's IX Region.

In January 2003, opening of the first stretch of the Scut do Algarve, in Portugal On 31 January last, and 11 days ahead of schedule, the first stretch of Scut do Algarve was opened to traffic, a project for a "shadow tolling" motorway undertaken in Southern Portugal and managed, with a majority holding, by Cintra. Building work has been performed by the joint venture partnership Vialscut, in which Ferrovial Agroman is involved as majority stockholder. The stretch now open consists of 9.8 km of the main branch between the town of Alcantarilha and Lagoa, in addition to the connection between Lagoa and Silves, with a further 6.2 km. This central stretch joins the 91.5 km conveyed by the Portuguese government from the frontier with Spain to Alcantarilha. The project is expected to be fully operational on 11 April next and the licensing period will extend until 2030.

March 2003. Signature of the licensing agreement for the N4/N6 in Ireland, the country's first toll motorway, between the Ministry of Transport, the NRA and Cintra and Siac, members of the winning venture. The project involved an investment of 400 million euros and a concession period of 30 years.

On 27 March 2003, Ferrovial Agroman was awarded the construction of Hotel Marqués de Riscal in El Ciego (Alava). This exclusive hotel is to be designed by the renowned architect Frank Gehry and will consist of 14 rooms. The adjudicated budget amounts to 16,416,629 euros.

In April 2003, Ferrovial opens its first toll motorway in Portugal to traffic, the vía Scut do Algarve, with a total of 130 km, which it is to manage until 2030. Its second motorway licence, Scut do Norte Litoral, is to start construction during this business year. With a total of 130 km, of which 37.8 are new construction, Scut do Algarve is part of the new East-West artery that will unite the south of Portugal and provide service for 80,000 people and for more than 350,000 in the summer months. The project has involved a total investment of 275 million euros and has an operating licence for 30 years.

On 16 May 2003, Madrid Xanadu is to be inaugurated. This is a leisure and shopping centre built in Arroyomolinos, a town situated 23 km to the southwest of Madrid, and which will have a total surface area of almost 135,000 m2. This groundbreaking complex will combine a major range of leisure and shopping activities, with the added attraction of the largest indoor ski slope in Europe.

June 2003. Two projects undertaken by Ferrovial in Spain and the Dominican Republic are awarded the VIII International Prize Puente de Alcántara. The VIII International Prize Puente de Alcántara, organised every two years by the San Benito de Alcántara Foundation, has on this occasion been awarded to two projects developed by Ferrovial: the communicating bridges in Piedrafita, on the Autovía del Noroeste A-6, and the project for the multiple exploitation of the River Mao (Monción Dam in the Dominican Republic).

On 20 December, in Asturias, the Minister of Development, Francisco Álvarez Cascos, inaugurated the extension to the terminal building at Asturias airport for the installation of passenger fingers to make boarding and disembarkation easier for air travellers. Accordingly, a two-storey module has been built, measuring 120 metres by 16 metres, annexed to the façade on the operations side of the terminal, which means that the resulting surface area is 12,900 m2 (previously 9,300 m2). The new project has been designed on the basis of simplicity of lines that permit the integration of the new module within the existing terminal building, with the construction of a curtain wall that makes the interior very light. The total cost of this extension amounts to 7.10 million euros.

On 14 February 2004, Francisco Álvarez Cascos, the Minister of Public Works, inaugurated the Plasencia-Cañaveral section of the A-66 highway (also known as Ruta de la Plata), built by Ferrovial Agroman which stretches over 22.3 km, or 27.8 km including the intersections and roadways. The budget for this project was approximately 87 million Euros. Special emphasis was placed on environmental measures which included: hydroseeding; the planting of trees and bushes; transplanting of olive groves; the spreading of topsoil; building animal crossings; installation of noise barriers; and, most importantly, the excavation of archeological sites along the route which revealed Paleolithic remains and a Neolithic mound.

The Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid (Madrid Conference Center) was the venue chosen by AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Áerea) to celebrate the Fourth Edition of the Excellence Seminar on 23 March to announce the winners of the 2003 Excellence and Best Practices awards. The award-winning projects included the Barajas Airport Terminal, built by a joint venture in which Ferrovial Agroman participated, which won a diploma, under the Infrastructures Projects category, for "the design, planning, execution, control, and coordination for the overall management of the teams that collaborated in the project of the new terminal building encompassed in the Barajas Plan."

The new Palau de la Música Catalana facilities built by Ferrovial Agroman were inaugurated on 22 April, and this hasn't been an easy challenge. Declared an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997, the project posed a major challenge: transforming this space of recognized architectural value, into a vanguard music hall offering the best in cultural, functional, and operational features able to host all types of musical, business, and social events. In short, as its slogan stated, the challenge was transforming the Palau into a twenty-first century venue. Ferrovial Agroman’s excellent technical team was responsible for carrying out the designs of the team of architects headed by the Oscar Tusquets.

Barcelona was at its best on 8 May when it played host to more than three thousand guests at the inauguration of the Fórum de las Culturas Barcelona 2004, that within the scheduled multiracial meetings will be hosting numerous cultural events until the end of September, and will form a comprehensive range of various events. Ferrovial Agroman also attended the event as one of the companies comprising the joint venture with FCC and COMSA that was responsible for the construction of one of the landmark buildings, the Convention Center that will be hosting several seminars and exhibits, including: "Voces" and "Ciudades Esquinas".

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the new Fundación La Caixa headquarters, CaixaForum, took place on 10 May. Ferrovial Agroman will be responsible for building the project designed by the Swiss architects Harry Gugger and Carlos Gerhard. The project designed by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron contemplates the use of materials such as brick, metal panels, and the already-existing granite structure to create a space that will give the impression of floating 3.5 meters off the ground, surrounded by a 2,500 meter square out of the project’s total 10,000 square meters. Visitors will find a compact museum, an architectural structure that will seem to be levitating in the air.

The inauguration of the new headquarters of the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (I.E.S.E.) in Madrid, attached to the University of Navarre, was inaugurated on 19 May. This new extension was built by Ferrovial Agroman which was also responsible for the construction of the original building, underscoring the collaboration between the University and the Company which dates back ten years when Ferrovial was responsible for building the first phase, and since then and until today has been linked to this project.

On 8 July, their Royal Highnesses, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, inaugurated the new Chamber of Commerce headquarters built by Ferrovial Agroman. The various chambers of commerce will have more than 9,000 square meters from which they will be able to provide support to Spanish companies. Designed as a meeting point, the new space will host meetings with companies from the 17 autonomous communities and marks another step in the renovation process in which the various chambers of commerce have been immersed in the past eight years. Designed by the architect Rafael de La Hoz, the building was built by Ferrovial Agroman.

Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Madrid Autonomous Community, presided over the ceremony on 22 September when the tunneling machine started working on the extension of Line 1 of the Madrid subway system to Ensanche de Vallecas. The project, worth 87.66 million Euros and scheduled to be completed in 24 months, was awarded to Ferrovial Agroman. The machine will start drilling near Gran Vía del Sureste and will work its way to the Congosto station, drilling the 3.1 km tunnel that will bring Line 1 to Ensanche de Vallecas. The project contemplates the construction of three new subway stations that will provide services to over 60,000 users. The first station will be north of the M-45, the second one in the central district of Ensanche de Vallecas, and the third one at the Gran Vía del Sureste intersection.

The book on Museo Picasso (Picasso Museam), sponsored by Ferrovial Agroman, was given to Manuel Chávez on 26 October, at the event coinciding with the inauguration of the new wing that was built by our company. Several other events were held on 27 October, including a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary. The project included the creation of the Centro de Estudios y Difusión de la Obra de Picasso (Center for the Dissemination of Picasso’s Works) comprising an auditorium, a library, and an education department.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía presided over the inauguration of Museo Picasso (Picasso Museum) in Malaga on 27 September, accompanied by Pilar del Castillo, the Minister of Education, Culture, and Sports, Manuel Chávez, President of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, and many other personalities, including Rafael del Pino Moreno, the Honorary Chairman of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, our Group’s CEO, Joaquín Ayuso, Managing Director, and Pedro Buenaventura, Board Member and General Manager of Ferrovial Agroman. The Picasso Museum is one of the landmark buildings in Málaga and one of the most recent projects carried out by the Ferrovial Agroman office in Málaga headed by Carlos Rodrigo López. The Condes de Buenavista Palace, the building chosen as the home of the museum for the Málaga-born Pablo Picasso, is a historic building, typical of the civil architecture of Andalusia of the sixteenth century blending Renaissance and Mudejar style elements.

December 2004 – The Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez, presided over the inauguration of new Tenagua Los Sauces section of the C-830 highway connecting Santa Cruz de La Palma and Puntagorda in the northern part of La Palma. The project includes the Arco de los Tilos (Tilos' Arch), a 353 meter-wide concrete arch, one of the largest in the world and the largest in Spain. The inauguration events began on 17 December with the visit of Antonio Castro, the Secretary of Infrastructures of the Canary Island Government, followed by fireworks at the bridge, and the official lighting of the arch. Other events were held on 18 December, including the official inauguration by Magdalena Álvarez, Minister of Public Works, who visited the site and unveiled the commemorative plaque, cut the ribbon, and opened the highway to traffic.

On 19 January 2005 the Puerta de América Hotel project was presented in Madrid. The hotel was built by Ferrovial Agroman, and encompasses designs by eighteen world-class architects and designers. The Mayor of Madrid, Mr Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, activated the mechanism revealing the hotel façade, which displays passages in several languages from Liberty, a poem by Paul Eluard. The presentation was attended by institutional and business personalities. The team of architects and designers described and explained the project to the audience. Each floor of the hotel has been commissioned from a different architect or interior decorator of international reputation. The Hotel Puerta de América will have 342 rooms (30 rooms per floor) and 644 parking spaces, with a total surface area of more than 34,000 m². Building the hotel will involve an investment of €75 million.

On 24 January 2005, the first stone was laid of the Hospital Doce de Octubre. The event was presided by the President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Ms Esperanza Aguirre, and the regional Health and Consumer Affairs Councillor, Mr Manuel Lamela. The first-phase works, awarded to Ferrovial Agroman, include a central installations building and connecting galleries. The works are planned to a budget of €14.2 million and a 12-month completion timetable. The facilities are expected to come into operation in the early weeks of 2006. The technical building will have an area of 5,745 m², plus 2,420 m² of galleries connecting to the rest of the complex. The new installations will provide heating and refrigeration services and water and power supplies.

On 2 February 2005, Felipe de Borbón, Prince of Asturias, and Leticia, Princess of Asturias, visited the Metro Line 1 extension works at Ensanche de Vallecas, which are being carried out by Ferrovial Agroman. The Prince and Princess of Asturias found that the suburban underground railway is being extended very rapidly at the site, largely thanks to the tunnel-boring machine working 24 hours a day. Over 1300 m of tunnel have been excavated so far. Prince Felipe and Princess Leticia were invited to climb inside the tunnel-boring machine to see how it works: they witnessed how one of the concrete sections of the tunnel casing was jacked into place. Once completed, the tunnel will be 3.1 km long and will connect three new stations.

On 17 February 2005, the Minister of Development, Ms Magdalena Álvarez, the President of the Autonomous Community of Melilla, Mr Juan José Imbroda, and the Government delegate, Mr José Fernández Chacón, opened the new runway extension at Melilla Airport built by Ferrovial Agroman. The runway at Melilla Airport has been extended from 1347 metres to 1645 metres in length. The head of the runway is now 118 metres longer, while the rest of the extension has gone into lengthening the obstruction-free zone and the safety zone at the end of the runway. The Melilla Airport runway is demarcated by ground lights at the edges, threshold and end-zone, with threshold identification lights at both ends and a PAPI system (Precision Approach Path Indicator). The runway has two exit taxiways, one of which is for military use. The entire surface has been made 15 cm thicker; hence the whole runway area has had to be levelled and all affected facilities replaced. The runway extension will enable the aircraft now using the airport to increase their payload (passengers, luggage, cargo and/or fuel).

On 5 May 2005, the Minister of Development, Ms. Magdalena Álvarez, presided over the act of breaking through and connecting both sides of the eastern tube of the Guadarrama tunnel, part of the high-speed Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid/Medina del Campo line. The tunnel is the fifth longest in the world, measuring 28.4 km in length and represented a significant step forward for communication of the Spanish north-northwest region.

The Guadarrama tunnel works were essential comprised of two parallel tunnels, 30 feet apart. Both tubes are connected by emergency galleries located every 250 meters. The tunnels run between the town of Miraflores de la Sierra in Madrid and the vicinity of Segovia. The innovative construction technique used meant that this project became one of the most important international projects at that time. This is evidenced by the fact that it is the fourth longest tunnel in Europe and fifth in the world.

On 6 June 2005, Magdalena Álvarez, Minister of Development, opened a new section of the A-66 La Plata dual carriageway in the north of Seville province, running from the north link at El Ronquillo to the provincial boundary of Huelva. The works, executed by Ferrovial Agroman, consisted of building the new dual carriageway section in the north of Seville province, from the north link at El Ronquillo to the provincial boundary of Huelva, making for a total distance of 8.58 kilometres. The new section of road is largely parallel to the present N-630. In cross-section, the road comprises two 7-metre carriageways, with 1 metre of inner hard shoulder, 2.5 metres of outer hard shoulder and a 10-metre-wide central reservation, along which is laid a central trench triangular in cross-section of three metres in width, and a plantation of oleanders and mastics.

On September 5th Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Madrid Autonomous Community, accompanied by the Deputy Vice-President and Councilor of Justice and the Home Office, Alfredo Prada; the city’s Mayor, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, and high ranking members of Madrid’s legal circles, officially opened the works that will be the biggest judicial complex in Europe, covering a surface area equivalent to thirty football pitches. All the judicial bodies with headquarters in Madrid, except the Supreme and Constitutional Courts and the National High Court, will be housed on an area covering over 30,000 square meters comprising fourteen circular buildings. The headquarters will be distributed around the fourteen circular buildings encompassing just over 200,000 square meters. The buildings must not be over 6 floors high and there will be parking facilities for over five thousand vehicles and more than 60% of the surface area will be green belt zones. The Parque de Valdebebas complex, where the City of Justice will be located, is situated just ten minutes from Plaza de Castilla. To the north it borders with El Encinar de los Reyes and La Moraleja; to the south with the M-11 highway and IFEMA; to the east with the new terminal at Barajas airport, and to the west with the M-40 highway and Sanchinarro.

On September 23rd, Line 3 of the Madrid Metro (subway) resumed operations after completion of the second stage of the remodeling work that took place this summer. The Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, attended the re-opening act along with the regional President Esperanza Aguirre. Esperanza Aguirre assured that Line 3, which will provide services in 2007 once the last remodeling stage is completed, will be completely new and will cover a further 7.6 kilometers and seven other stations. The improvement works will also permit doubling the current capacity of the line and increasing the frequency of trains through the renovated stations.

On October 14th, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón gave the go-ahead for starting up Dulcinea, the biggest tunnel boring machine in the world, to begin excavating 4.2 kilometers of one of the tunnels comprising the south by-bass of the M-30 highway. Although the tunnel boring machine started up as planned from the proximities of Plaza de Conde Casal, it is undergoing testing and will not start boring the 3.6 kilometers separating it from its destination next to Santa Maria de la Cabeza, until the end of the month, which will take it around six months at an average speed of 24 meters per day. This work is being carried out by the Ferrovial Agroman and Necso Joint Venture. Weighing in at 4,366 tons, 12,000 kilowatts of power, 107 meters long and 15.2 meters in diameter, Dulcinea is the largest tunnel boring machine in the world. The by-pass comprises two tunnels, each 4.2 kilometers long, which will solve serious traffic congestion problems in a zone where 260,000 vehicles travel daily. The work will be completed with connections from Calle Embajadores to M-40, what will consequently contribute to eliminating the dangerous sections of the Nudo Sur intersection, and therefore improving traffic layout in that area.

On January 16th, the President of the Madrid Autonomous Community, Esperanza Aguirre, accompanied by the Councilor for Health and Consumer Affairs, Manuel Lamela, opened a new stage of the Santa Cristina University Hospital, making 104 new beds available at four hospitalization units, each with 26 beds, which will be used for gynecology, specific operations as general surgery or traumatology, and inpatient medical care and special units. The new facilities, which were undertaken by a Ferrovial Agroman and OHL Joint Venture, encompass 5,141 square meters divided into four floors with an investment of €5,903,863. In addition to the new beds, the hospital has also been equipped with new elevator facilities, storage areas, meeting halls and kitchens. The two previous stages (Stage 0 and First Stage) entailed construction of a five-floor building, semi-basement and three basement floors for parking facilities. Covering a surface area of 17,375 square meters, it houses all the health care units and has been in service since 2002.

On February 10th, Magdalena Álvarez, Minister of Public Works, opened the new Camino de Castilla highway, with a design length of 6.2 kilometers, linking the Madrid and Murcia highways. The construction of this highway was wholly carried out by Ferrovial Agroman. The highway is a section of the High Capacity Highway scheduled for the improvement of communications between the A-31 Madrid – Alicante highway and the A-7 highway between Alicante and Murcia, and it will replace the CV-850 currently linking those two highways, historically known under the name of Camino de Castilla.

The section is 6.2 kilometers long with a total of 17 crossway structures, emphasis being placed on two of them owing to their singularity: the first, the raised traffic circle that joins the city of Elche, the old CV-850 road and A-7 highway, by means of two curved structures. The second singular structure, located in the proximities of the A-31 highway was resolved by means of a traffic circle at a different level which permits connections between Aspe town road, the CV-850 and A-31 highway (Alicante – Madrid).

On February 27th 2006 the King and Queen of Spain officially opened the National Cardiovascular Research Centre (CNIC) which was constructed by Ferrovial Agroman. The building was constructed on the Chamartin campus of the Carlos III Health Institute, from the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs. Comprising five floors and three basements, with a three-wing spoke layout, the hub is the communications nerve centre and houses the communal areas. The laboratories are equipped with the services and facilities necessary for the developments of biomedical science in the 21st century, in an atmosphere designed to promote maximum collaboration and communication among the research groups. The land site plot covered a surface area of 23,261 m2, with 11,200 m2 for laboratories, 2000 m2 for animal facilities, 2000 m2 for general purpose use and 3200 m2 for technical areas with space enough for 300 researchers.

On March 2nd, Her Majesty the Queen officially opened the new facilities of Laboratorios Normon, located on the outskirts of Madrid, in Tres Cantos. Queen Sofía was received by the Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, Elena Salgado; the Mayoress of Tres Cantos, Maria de la Poza Ramírez; the President of Laboratorios Normon, Jesús Govantes and his wife, María Ángeles Esteso, the Vice-President of Laboratorios Normon. The President of Laboratorios Normon went on to explain to Queen Sofia about the layout of the facilities with the aid of a scale model. Her Majesty was then taken to the Meeting Hall where she was shown an audiovisual presentation about the laboratories. After the presentation, the Queen set off on a tour around the facilities. After signing the visitor’s of honor book and unveiling a commemorative plaque, the Queen conversed with the company’s assistants and workers after which she brought the event to a close, being seen off by the same authorities who welcomed her upon arrival. The new laboratory complex, built by Ferrovial Agroman in the Madrid town of Tres Cantos, covers a surface area of 45,000 square meters and is one of the most modern facilities of its kind in Europe.

On March 7th, His Majesty the King - Juan Carlos I, officially opened the National Golf Center. This is a public golfing center located on recovered land that was previously a garbage dumping site and which today is home to the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation. Ferrovial Agroman was responsible for construction of the Social Club Building at the National Golf Center, with a built surface area of 8,500 m2 on two floors, used by the Center itself and also as offices for the Royal Spanish Golf Federation. Spanish Politicians and sports celebrities alike attended the event, among whom Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Community of Madrid; Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, Mayor of Madrid, Jaime Lissavetzky, Secretary of State for Sport; and Alejandro Blanco, President of the Spanish Olympic Committee are particularly noteworthy. The President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation, Emma Villacieros, received the King at the facilities of the National Golf Center and they then took a complete tour around the central building and travelled to the highest point of the golf course by buggy.

On May 31st, the President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, officially opened the extension of the Holmen Paper Factory in Fuenlabrada, a work that was completely carried out by Ferrovial Agroman. This factory will be capable of manufacturing a further 300,000 tons of paper for the press each year, i.e. it will manufacture 2,400 kilometers of rolls of newspaper per day, at a speed of 1800 meters per minute, which accounts for 50% of current consumption by the whole of mainland Spain. The work was divided into batches, which were contracted and designed at the same time as work was being carried out. The initial excavation and leveling work and the execution of work platforms were followed by performance of deep foundations for the various items of equipment. Batch 3 included construction of the new paper machine building and the in-situ concrete structures and prefabricated structures supporting diverse pieces of equipment. The work was completed with excavation and subsequent development of a new plot of land purchased by Holmen, construction of prefabricated deposits made using pre-stressed concrete, and the civil engineering associated to the finished product zone.

Last July 3rd the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez, accompanied by the President of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla, and other authorities, officially opened the Pesquera – Reinosa section of the highway that will link Cantabria with La Meseta. Covering a stretch of 8.6 kilometers, this section accounted for an investment of a little over €112 million, entailing the construction of 14 viaducts and a double tunnel. With regard to the section that is currently operating, the Minister of Public Works emphasized that 25% of its length comprises extremely complex structures, more specifically 14 viaducts and a double tunnel. The section connects on the South with the link from Reinosa to the border of the Province of Palencia.

On July 17th, the tunnel boring machine named Dulcinea completed its work in record time. The city Mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón attended completion of this final stage. The work was carried out by a Joint Venture between Ferrovial Agroman and Acciona Infraestructuras. The tunnel boring machine, built specially for the north tunnel of the M-30 south by-pass, completed the excavation and assembly work of this 3,578 meter long infrastructure in seven months. Work commenced on November 25th last year and now, two months before expected, the drill was completed. Dulcinea has been working at a rate of 500 meters per month, way above the expected 300 meters originally forecast. This completes excavation of the 4.2 kilometer tunnel (3.5 km bored by the machine) between the intersection with the Valencia highway to the east and Legazpi to the west.

The Marqués de Riscal hotel, designed by the Canadian architect Frank Gehry and constructed by Ferrovial Agroman, located in these winemakers’ City of Wine, in the Alava town of Elciego, was officially opened on October 10th by His Majesty King Juan Carlos. In this small town in the province of Alava, where the Marqués de Riscal wine cellars have been established since 1860, Gehry designed a building with his identifying hallmark: a titanium outer coating describing undulating shapes. It is reminiscent of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, also constructed by Ferrovial, but this time Gehry used earthy tones and the emblematic colors of the company: titanium pink (alluding to red wine), gold (the mesh wrapping on the Riscal wine bottles) and silver (the foil wrap sealing the cork). The facilities cover a surface area of nearly 100,000 square meters where the 14-bedroom exclusive hotel is located.

In addition to these luxury chambers, a further 26 have been added inside an adjoining building. The hotel is also equipped with a Spa which bases treatment on wine and wine derivatives, and a restaurant managed by the Rioja-born chef Francis Paniego. In Gehry’s own words, this building was a great architectural and constructive challenge whilst also being one of the most ambitious projects embarked upon among those carried out by Spanish wine cellars to date.

On Tuesday January 30th, the mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, officially opened the second section of the M-30 underground project, an inner ring-road stretching between the Vicente Calderón soccer stadium and Paseo Marqués de Monistrol, which had a budget of over €237 million and which was completed in 20 months. This work was divided into two sections, the first between Puente de San Isidro y Puente de Segovia, constructed by Ferrovial Agroman, and the second section from Segovia Bridge to Paseo Marqués de Monistrol, constructed by Dragados.

On January 31st the President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, officially opened the last refurbishment stage of the hospital, which now has 188 inpatient beds and three surgery blocks housing eleven theatres, resulting from the refurbishing process of 37,000 square meters and an investment amounting to nearly €50.6 million. The work at the Santa Cristina Hospital began in February last year and affected the north side of O’Donnell Street with a surface area of 3,870 square meters. The investment of over five million euro means the hospital now has ninety-two new beds for inpatients and a hospital pharmacy, with computerized prescription and electronic medication dispensing systems.

On March 14th the Minister of Public Administration, Jordi Sevilla, presided over the official opening of the final stretch of the A-7 highway linking Valencia and Castellón. The works, carried out by Ferrovial Agroman, cover a section of highway 4,500 m long as a relief-road between the A-7 intersection at Almenara and the AP-7 toll road at the Sagunto intersection, and consisted of redesigning and widening the linking road to incorporate two lanes in both directions between the AP-7 at Sagunto and the CN-340 as a link road between the AP-7 and the A-7 (total length 1,500 m), the diversion and adaptation of the CN-340 as a service lane, with traffic circle type intersections at Sagunto, Faura, Quartell and the Almenara access road; the construction of three overpasses over the highway for the local CV-323, CV-324 and Camino de la Victoria roads; extension of the two underpasses at the Sagunto intersection for widening the current CN-340 highway to two lanes; and diversion and resurfacing of the CV-320 highway (1,100 m).

On March 30th, the President of the Madrid Regional Government, Esperanza Aguirre, officially opened the Chamartín macro-station, the biggest constructed to date in the region. Carried out by Ferrovial Agroman, it covers an underground area of over 35,000 square meters with 14,000 m2 above ground. This infrastructure permits linking Lines 1 and 10 of the Metro with the Renfe and the Cercanias rail networks. It also caters for the extension of Line 1 of the subway through to Chamartín, instead of ending at Plaza de Castilla as was the case previously. The work basically consisted on the construction of a commuting platform for four Metro lines covering a surface area of 14,000 m2 built on 6 levels, from ground level to 30 meters below ground; the building by hand of a 1.090 m tunnel, using the traditional method in Madrid, for the extension of Metro Line 1, and a 760 meter long tunnel built using the same method, for doubling of the Line 10 tunnel; besides construction of three telescope sections to permit the approach of Line 10 trains to the two lines resulting from the doubling.

On April 13th the official opening of the restored Regio Theatre in Almansa (Albacete) took place after completion of the restoration work carried out by Ferrovial Agroman. The work consisted of fully restoring the most representative theatre in Almansa, with original construction dating back to 1929. Major restoration was carried out entailing complete removal of the principal frontispiece and the stage area, modification of the whole structure and redesigning of these zones.

On April 18th, the official opening ceremony of the Albacete Conference Palace took place, presided by the President of the Castilla La Mancha Regional Government Jose Maria Barreda. Construction of the Conference Palace was carried out by Ferrovial Agroman. The Palace is built on a piece of land covering 39,000 square meters with a built surface area of 15,300 square meters.

On May 3rd, the completed restoration and extension works of the Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns Unit of the Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza was officially opened, presided by the President of the Autonomous Community of Aragon, Marcelino Iglesias. The work, carried out by Ferrovial Agroman, consisted of extending and restoring the buildings comprising the Miguel Servet hospital complex in Zaragoza. The store buildings, boiler and water works plant and the wash room were demolished, and the traumatology building was restored, new buildings being erected. A total of 9777 m2 were demolished, 22,169 m2 restored and an extension of 49,042 m2 was built.

On May 16th, the President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, opened the extension of Line 1 of Madrid’s Metro at Ensanche de Vallecas. This work, fully undertaken by Ferrovial Agroman, covers a total length of 3,105 m of which 2,611 m were carried out using the E.P.B. Carpetana tunnel boring machine, with a diameter of 9.38 m, the rest of the tunnel being performed by using diaphragm walls. While progressing through the tunnel, the machine fitted 1734 concrete rings to build the tunnel, which took place at a speed of over 14 meters per day. An interesting detail with the execution of this engineering work was the fitting of anti-vibration systems in the more sensitive areas, to avoid disturbing users either below or above ground as trains pass by.

The Petit Palau project, contrived by Oscar Tusquets and constructed by Ferrovial Agroman at the Palau de la Música Catalana (Catalonian Music Palace), and T-4 terminal at Madrid’s Barajas Airport, designed at the Lamela architecture studio in cooperation with Britain’s Richard Rogers and built by Ferrovial Agroman in a Joint Venture with other companies, have been awarded two of the 5 European ULI Awards for Excellence granted annually by the Urban Land Institute. The prize-giving ceremony took place on June 6th in Hamburg (Germany), within the framework of the European ULI meeting. The winning projects were: Kanyon, Istanbul, Turkey (Kanyon) - Manufaktura Lodz, Poland (Apsys Management) - Meudon Campus, Meudon sur Seine, France (Hines France) – New Airport Terminal Madrid-Barajas, Spain (Estudio Lamela) - Petit Palau, Barcelona, Spain (Palau de la Música Catalana).

The contest is framed within the Awards for Excellence Program run by the Institute since 1979, based on the principle driven by ULI according to which excellence in the use of land deserves recognition and reward. The criteria determining the selection of prizewinners includes, among others, leadership, contribution to the community, innovation, collaboration between the public and private sectors, protection and improvement of the environment, responding to society’s needs and economic success.