The Government, through the Sectoral Tourism Conference, chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, has approved twelve tourism sustainability projects in Aragón, which will receive 21.740,000 euros for its implementation corresponding to the third extraordinary call of the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plans 2023 program, financed entirely with the Next Generation EU funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.. The city of Huesca, Loarre, the region of Sobrarbe, Aguaviva, Albarracín, the city of Teruel and its region, the region of Jiloca, Jaraba, the city of Zaragoza and the regions of Belchite and the Ribera Baja del Ebro will be able to see their tourist identity improved thanks to the initiative.
These are the interventions that have benefited:
HUESCA
Huesca (City Council): the plan seeks to position the city as a reference in gastronomic, cultural and congressional tourism through actions such as the adaptation of the Beulas estate, Center of Art and Nature, as a residence of artists and the creation of an itinerary linked to land art interventions; the urban renaturalization of the San Martín park; or exterior conditioning of the building of the Círculo Oscense, also called Casino de Huesca, declared Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) and tourist signage, among others. 2,000,000 €
Loarre (Town Hall): The municipality of Loarre enjoys one of the elements of greatest tourist attraction in the province and region - the castle of Loarre which is considered the best preserved Romanesque castle in Europe. The actions include the rehabilitation of the monumental and patrimonial area, innovation and digitalization projects and other interventions that will contribute to the sustainable development of the municipality. 1,100,000 €
Sobrarbe (Region): This plan aims to turn Sobrarbe into a reference destination for the segment of rural and nature tourism with actions that seek to integrate natural and urban space, improving accessibility and deconcentration. Among the main actions could be highlighted the development of astrotourism, geological routes or the sustainable mobility plan, among others. 2,300,000 €
TERUEL
Aguaviva (Town Hall): the town of Aguaviva has an important tourist potential based especially on its magnificent rural environment and accompanied by its remarkable historical and architectural heritage. The plan aims to value a unique resource such as the pools of the Bergantes River, attracting quality and sustainable tourism. 1,500,000 €
Albarracín (Town Hall): Albarracín is the entrance and head of the Serranía of the same name, included in the National Hunting Reserve of the Universal Mountains. The objective of the plan is to turn Albarracín into a national and international reference of the block climbing modality, through different actions that include the training school, among others. 2,000,000 €
Teruel (Town Hall): With this plan the city of Teruel poses three important challenges: to become an accessible, digital city with a historical heritage enhanced from its nocturnal aesthetics. Among the performances, the development of lighting tourism, the commitment to digitization or the improvement of accessibility, among others, stand out. 2,000,000 €
Teruel (Region): The objective of the plan is to boost the competitiveness of the destination "Teruel Rural", based on tourism products based on their identity values as a truly rural territory and establishing synergies with adjacent mature destinations, in order to generate quality employment that contributes to curb depopulation and aging. Among the actions can be noted the experience of the "Dino Experience" that is based on the exceptional paleontological heritage of the territory or the environmental restoration and promotion of ecosystem services linked to the Chopo Cabezero, among others. 1,300,000 €
El Jiloca (Comarca): this plan aims to encourage tourism with actions such as the physical and environmental improvement of the banks of the Jiloca, Huerva, Panroja and Cella rivers; the recovery of the ditch that served the flour mill of Fuentes Claro; the creation of a cycling path or the conditioning for observation of flora and fauna of the area, among other actions. 1,100,000 €
ZARAGOZA
Jaraba (Town Hall): The thermal village of Jaraba is a town with a large influx of visitors thanks to its mineral-medicinal waters, taken advantage of by its three spas since the 19th century. The plan seeks to improve its natural and patrimonial resources through actions such as the recovery of the old Jaraba Calmarza road as a river walk and green corridor next to the Mesa river or the creation of an astrotourism observatory in the era of San Juan, among others. 1,700,000 €
Zaragoza (City Council): the plan focuses on developing actions in the main city of Aragon, which is the main axis of communications and whose reputation as a tourist destination is undeniable. The main objective is to consolidate the city as an urban, cultural, diverse, sustainable and intelligent destination, with a wide range of products that allows to diversify its offer and consolidate its brand nationally and internationally. 3,000,000 €
Belchite (Comarca): in plan bet on the creation of an active tourism offer that allows you to discover the cultural heritage and the environment of the area. Among the main actions is the creation of a green road that crosses the territory from south to north that will allow you to know the historical heritage of the region, starting with the old town of Belchite or Fuendetodos (native town of Goya). 2.200.000 €
Ribera Baja del Ebro (Region): this plan aims to encourage the tourist development of the area with actions such as the adaptation and conditioning of the Jacobean Road of the Ebro, the creation of a network of ornithological observatories, implementation of a cycling infrastructure plan for sports use or adaptation of the landscape linked to the hydraulic heritage and enhancement of river tourism. 1,100,000 €
Of the plans selected throughout Spain, 160 will be managed by local entities and 15 correspond to cohesion actions that will be developed by the autonomous communities, but that will also impact on destinations. By type of destination, in Aragon, seven of them correspond to a rural destination with a tourist identity, one to a city with a tourist identity, two to urban tourist destinations and another two to natural spaces.
This third call for the Tourism Sustainability Plans in destination has a budget of 478 million euros for all the autonomous communities, which is added to the 660 million dedicated to the same purpose in 2021 and to the 720 million of last year’s edition. In total, there are already 1,858 million euros destined for the development and implementation of tourism projects, which prioritize environmental sustainability and digitalization with the aim of achieving a more competitive and higher quality tourism.
The agreement approved by the Council of Ministers aims exclusively to authorise the distribution between the autonomous communities of the allotments for spending these budgetary appropriations, as well as their formalisation by 2023.
The criteria used for the distribution proposal are as follows:
• Economic: percentage (%) of tourist GDP compared to the autonomous GDP. Fall in the affiliation of workers in the tourism sector from December 2019 to December 2020.
• Territorial: percentage (%) of area of each autonomous community with respect to the national area; and population density of each autonomy (Hab/km2).
• Tourist: Number of tourists in the year 2019 and tourist expenditure in 2019.
