The delegate of the Government in Aragón, Rosa Serrano, presented this morning the conclusions of the report Complying corresponding to the second half of 2022 and which includes the impact and development of the commitments made by the central Government with the autonomous community. “In addition to the obligations assumed through the budgets to create jobs and wealth, promote and create new infrastructures and decisively support the less densely populated areas in Aragon, we have had to take urgently and without delay to protect the most vulnerable and the middle classes,” he said.
The delegate explained that much of the work of the Government of Spain in the community has to do with the “decisive commitment to the business fabric and the reactivation of areas with low population density”. This is the case of the reduction of Social Security quotas of up to 20% in Teruel, Cuenca and Soria. “For the first time in history, since January 1, the Social Security is applying these reductions ex officio to all companies in the province of Teruel, as will be reflected in the next bulletins of contributions,” he said. At the moment, 4,479 companies have benefited, including 28,148 workers.
In addition, the self-employed in this province who open a company in 2023 will enjoy a reduced quota for common and professional contingencies during the 36 calendar months immediately following the date of effect of the discharge. This fee is 80 euros per month.
The delegate recalled that the lowering of the VAT on basic foodstuffs, the freezing of the price of rents or those taken over transport, which allow a partial and even total subsidy of urban and interurban routes, has already been approved. In addition, it has indicated that the Aragonese have been traveling for months completely free of charge in the proximity and medium distance network, and Renfe closed 2022 with 27,741 subscriptions issued at no cost to users in this network. In the first days of January, when they are renewed, 12,026 of these subscriptions have already been issued: most of them (10,336) in medium distance, 1,690 in the network of Neighbourhoods and 139 in the Avant route between Zaragoza and Calatayud.
In addition, public transport is subsidised up to 50% and 11 state bus lines with passage through Aragon are free throughout the year.
In the chapter on infrastructure, Serrano has referred to the promotion of public works of great importance for the structuring of the territory. Noteworthy are the 106 million euros that have been allocated to complete the A-23 motorway between Lanave and Sabiñánigo; the 99 euros budgeted for the conditioning of the N-260 between Balupor and Fiscal, the more than 15 million euros that are being invested to improve the connection between Villastar and Teruel, between the N-330 and the variant of the N-234, or the almost 5 million euros destined for the construction of the A-68 in two sections: Sales of Valdealgorfa- Alcaniz and Alcañiz-El Otorlo. Work is also being done on the variants of Montalbán and Utrillas and more than 12.5 million have been approved for the humanization of the urban environment of several points of Alcañiz and Teruel.
Although they do not involve major works, the delegate pointed out that it is important to talk about the 100 million in road conservation in the three provinces “an investment that may go unnoticed normally but that is fundamental for the safety of all those who use these roads, as to reduce emissions to the environment.” In environmental terms, for every square meter of pavement in good condition, and throughout its entire useful life, 2,350 kilos of CO2 are saved in total.
In terms of railways, a long-awaited boost has been given to the line up to Canfranc and a fundamental milestone has been achieved for the Zaragoza–Teruel-Sagunto corridor. Europe has included it as a branch of the Mediterranean Corridor within the Connecting Europe Mechanism, after it was excluded in 2018. A funding mechanism that reserves $19.330 billion to support priority transport projects between 2021-2027. But not only that, the Indicative Railway Strategy 2021-2026 approved a few days ago by Mitma also includes this line within its priorities of action.
On the other hand, a new service called 'The Administration near you' has been launched that seeks to allow people living in rural areas to carry out some procedures and procedures without leaving their municipality. The initiative has already benefited the more than 250 citizens who have gone to the municipal offices where they have hosted the Delegation’s technicians to make digital certificates and various Social Security procedures or dependents of other ministries.
There is also enormous work being done with the Recovery Plan Funds, of which 1,267 million have already arrived in Aragon and are being invested in skills such as housing, sustainable mobility, renewables or social services, among others.
Social investment
Delegate Rosa Serrano has insisted that it is “more necessary than ever” to invest in the fight against gender violence, a commitment to which ten million euros are being allocated in the community. Specifically, with 2.6 million from this fund of the Ministry of Equality, the 24-hour Comprehensive Care Centres for victims of sexual violence will be financed and created in Aragon.
Commitments such as 300,000 pensioners in Aragon benefiting from the revaluation of pensions have also been implemented. And thanks to social improvements in the community there are 40,917 people who have received the Minimum Vital Income and 31,131 who benefit from the thermal social bond
These are just some of the measures that are already fully underway or very advanced in Aragon despite the difficulties that the war or the pandemic has caused. All of them are immersed in a context, promoted by this Government, of democratic regeneration and respect as a way of doing politics, political stability and the confidence that emanates from it, and with reforms as important as labor and pension reform; the modernization of our educational system and professional training; the strengthening of our National Health and Science System; the fight against child poverty, thanks to the Minimum Vital Income; the law of Euthanasia, or the determined commitment to digitization, renewable energies and the Law of Climate Change.