The Government of Spain has allocated 161 million euros to Andalusia through the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plans (PSTD), a tool of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed with Next Generation EU funds “that aims to transform and modernize tourist destinations through sustainability and digitalization, resulting in the improvement of their competitiveness”, explained the delegate of the Government of Spain in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, who today participated in the presentation of the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan of the municipality of Cazorla in Jiennense.
During the event, Fernández, who has been accompanied by the deputy delegate in Jaén, Catalina Madueño, and the mayor of Cazorla, Antonio José Rodríguez, stressed that “sustainability is not a tourist product, but a way of managing in which, through these Plans, all the relevant actors participate -- autonomous public institutions, local entities, social entities or business sector -- and among all contribute to a harmonious development within the territory.”
With this objective, he continued, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has so far given the green light to 59 PSTDs in Andalusia, which will be expanded predictably with the new call for 478 million, whose deadline for presentation ended yesterday. Among those already approved is that of Cazorla, “an example of a municipality that takes advantage of the opportunities of the Recovery Plan by benefiting from almost 6 million euros in actions financed with European funds, among which are the 2.64 million of the Sustainability Plan”.
Financed 100%, “this project seeks to increase competitiveness, incorporate sustainability into the tourism model, eliminate seasonality, promote a digitalized management model and value the biocultural and monumental heritage”, said the delegate, who added to this initiative the PSTD of the County of Jaén for the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas, endowed with 2.3 million euros, which will reach 2.8 million with the contribution of the provincial corporation and which will be deployed by 23 municipalities within the scope of the Cazorla Natural Park, Segura and the Villas “to redistribute in a better way the flow of existing roads and paths,
Pedro Fernández has highlighted that “both plans are integrated into the more than 31 million euros allocated by the Government of Spain for the improvement of tourist opportunities in the province of Jaén”, of which about 21 are 8 PSTDs and the rest, investment in Heritage Cities and Paradores de Turismo.
“We are facing a historic financing of the tourism sector that aims to be a lever to transform our tourist destinations and face a future with economic, social and environmental certainty,” concluded Fernández.
Precisely these are the objectives of the 4 axes that make up the PSTD of Cazorla, which contemplate from interventions of patrimonial regeneration, of the
water resources, actions to improve energy efficiency, mobility, the development of a sustainable tourism communication and marketing plan for the municipality of Cazorla, a guide for tourism companies and suppliers, as well as the use of local products for tourism, among other actions.