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The Government of Madrid, Spain, has canceled the concession contract for the second phase of the "Ciudad de la Justicia" project.

The Justice and Security department of the Government of Madrid has finally decided to cancel the project due to the fact that there was at least a previous awarded contract, which had, in part, a similar purpose.

As the previous contract was not resolved before the new concession tender process was open, the latter was not a legal process and was challenged in the courts. The uncertainty surrounding the process has led to government to stop the concession process.

The justice project is expected to be developed in the future but the government has no specific plans on how to carry it out.

This announcement comes after the government announced plans to received new proposals from the two shortlisted teams: Ferrovial & Dragados (ACS Group) and Acciona & OHL.

The project, which would have been carried out in an area of 200,000 m², involved the development and maintenance of new facilities to house 356 courts of the Judicial District of Madrid, 554 judges and magistrates, 202 prosecutors and 362 court clerks among others.

The project comprised the design, construction, financing and facility management of a new Court of Justice under a 30-year concession. The total project investment was estimated at €510 million (US$541.8 million).

The project would lead to a productivity improvement in judicial services, positively affecting citizens and employees, and was expected to improve energy efficiency compared to the currently used buildings. It would have been located at the site where the Community of Madrid has already invested €288 million. The investment has included, among others, the development of the new Institute of Legal Medicine.

We have recently reported on several PPP projects in Europe:

• Antwerp Brabo 2 tram PPP project - Belgium
• D4 - R7 expressways PPP project - Slovakia
• Charleroi housing PPP project - Belgium
• San Millán Health Complex PPP project - Spain
• Beatrix lock PPP project - Netherlands