The government delegate in Cantabria, Pedro Casares, has questioned the interest of the Government of Cantabria in acquiring the La Vega estate in Reinosa by not having made any new proposal to SEPES since the rejection in January of the offer of SICAN for not covering the costs assumed by the state entity in the development and urbanization of this estate.
Casares has assured that in SEPES they are open to studying proposals for the acquisition of the plots of the polygon that are unsold “but will only be considered and valued when they comply, at least, with the established minimums”. “They have to negotiate seriously if they’re really interested,” I said.
The fact is that, as the state company itself transferred to SICAN in January, the offer articulated from the Cantabrian government company was not “complete enough” and, in addition, offered a price “below cost”.
“The performance of SEPES, as a public business entity, is non-profit, but requires in any case a return on its investments that guarantees the continuity of its activity,” said the government delegate.
Casares explained this on Thursday in Reinosa where he visited the polygon of La Vega.
During that visit, he pointed out that SEPES informed SICAN of the non-acceptance of the offer for the 46 plots pending sale in January and, “after eight months, the Government of Cantabria has not made any new offer nor has it re-contacted the state entity” so he questioned his “interest in industrial growth” in the Campoo region.
Faced with this, he stressed that SEPES has worked to promote the sale of the 50,000 square meters that are still unsold in the polygon of La Vega, in whose development the Government of Spain invested almost 6.5 million euros –more than 230,000 m2 of industrial land and 138 parcels--, with an average cost per square meter of 28.11 euros.
Thus, the state company has opened a process of commercialization of plots by direct adjudication, with a total cost of 2.1 million euros and an average price of 39 euros for plots of light industry and 43 euros for those of nest industry. These prices represent a 15% reduction compared to those of 2022 and, in addition, payment facilities and different purchase options have been established.
He has detailed that the offer of the Cantabrian Executive through SICAN was “considerably lower”, specifically 1.36 million, and it was also proposed in parallel to invest one million euros, to be financed between SEPES and SICAN, to renovate pavements and signage. “With this, the real offer presented to SEPES was below one million euros, at the same time as forcing the state entity to invest 500,000 euros,” he explained.
“It was an out-of-market approach,” insisted Casares, who also recalled that the Government of Cantabria appropriated 2.4 million in this year’s regional budgets for the La Vega estate and the offer presented is “far below” that amount.
Therefore, the government delegate in Cantabria has urged the Cantabrian Executive and the president, María José Sáenz de Buruaga, to “approach this purchase seriously, following the current regulations, if they really have a real interest in the polygon and the industrial development of Campoo”.
VISIT TO ENTREPRENEURS
On its tour of the polygon, Casares visited three companies promoted by entrepreneurs in the region, namely Laser Maintenance Solutions, H7METROLOGY and Café Pindio.
The first was founded in 2024 and is focused on industrial maintenance through portable laser technology, with which they recover and preserve surfaces, parts or structures of companies in sectors such as renewable energies, naval and nautical, automotive and steel and foundry.
While H7METROLOGY is dedicated to industrial metrology and quality control through innovation and works for key sectors such as automotive, aeronautics, energy, mining, naval or defense.
For its part, Café Pindio is a platform that connects European roasters with producers around the world and supplies coffee to individuals and companies.
VISIT TO SIDENOR
Previously, the government delegate visited the industrial complex of Sidenor, a steel company that has recently been recognized by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) for having excelled in the execution of European funds.
Specifically, Casares has indicated that the department headed by sara Aagesen has recognized Sidenor in the field of innovation in the execution of funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) in the valorisation of optimized and sustainable slags for the manufacture of concretes and bituminous mixtures intended for high added value applications.
“MITECO has recognized 39 exemplary initiatives throughout the country, one of them from Sidenor”, said the delegate, who explained that SEG Automotive has also been recognized for technological innovation in a project for the design and development of the manufacturing processes of an electric motor for electric bicycles (e-Bikes).