- The Government has allocated 1,012 million euros to Rodalies in more than 250 actions
- 295,925 free subscriptions have already been issued for travel from January 1 to April 30 in the services of Rodalies
- Defends government measures against gender-based violence in the face of an “unacceptable” backlash
Barcelona, January 13, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Catalonia, Maria Eugènia Gay, presented this Friday the report Meeting in Catalonia of accountability of the second half of the year, which in the opinion of the delegate responds to the will of the Central Executive to "respond to the remains faced by the country in a time of global uncertainty".
The Government delegate has highlighted the investment that has been made in Catalonia in the past year in terms of European Next Generation Funds. In this chapter, 6,496.9 million euros have been allocated to Catalonia. Of these, 4791 correspond to the development of the Recovery and Resilience mechanism in the areas of housing, sustainable mobility, promotion of renewables, restoration of ecosystems, renovation of public buildings, education and VET, inclusion and social services: of these, 1,888 have been directly executed by the State and 2,903 are autonomous management. And of those 6,496.9 million, 1,705.9 million have been allocated in OBJECTIVE-EU funds.
ECONOMIC BOOST
In another chapter, Catalonia has received 20,931.8 million euros in account deliveries until December 2022; and 13,264.7 million euros from the annual distribution of extraordinary settlement mechanisms to strengthen the welfare state. 2.8 corresponding to the Financing Funds for Local Entities and the rest have gone to the Financing Funds for Autonomous Communities.
The Government of Spain has allocated 82.8 million euros for the implementation of the extraordinary call for proposals of the Tourist Sustainability Plans in Destination 2022 program and, in addition, the Tourist Sustainability Plans of Tossa de Mar, Mont-Roig del Camp and Deltebre, of the ordinary call, have been developed.
SOCIAL COHESION
The delegate has highlighted the measures promoted by the Government of Pedro Sánchez to respond to the turbulent times resulting from the consequences of “the unjust war that Putin decided to start against Ukraine and that involves the entire EU”.
In this regard, he recalled that within the packages of urgent measures deployed the increase of 15% of the Minimum Vital Income (MVI) over the beneficiaries has been maintained: thus, 133,124 people have received the MVI: 71,742 adults and 61,382 minors.
In the desire to advance in equal rights, the Government has allocated 50 million euros to Catalonia from the State Housing Plan 2022-2025 in subsidies for aid for renting vulnerable groups and increasing the public housing stock; 80.8 for the construction of social housing for affordable rent and 29 million euros more that are included in the Bona Youth Rental.
EUR 500.8 million has also been agreed in care policies, in addition to the 29.4 million that have been allocated to develop the Primary and Community Action Plan 2022-2023.
GENDER VIOLENCE
“Before I go into government policies to combat gender-based violence, I want to stop and make it clear that the situation is unsustainable. The uptick in cases we are seeing is unacceptable. The government is aware and therefore works tirelessly to end this scourge,” said the delegate, who has reproached those political groups that “still today deny the existence of these violence against women.”
Thus, it has highlighted that the Government has allocated 22.8 million euros to the fight against gender violence: 13 transferred to the Generalitat under the State Pact against Gender Violence and 4.5 transferred to the municipalities; 4 for the Spain Protect Plan and 1.3 for social assistance programs for victims and care for minors.
ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION
Another of the pillars on which this Executive bases its work of Government is the Ecological Transition. In this regard, it has allocated 20.8 million euros to improve the management of municipal waste and facilitate the implementation of the Support Plan for the application of waste regulations, the Improvement Program of Municipal Waste Management and the PIMA Circular Economy in 2022, especially with regard to the management of packaging waste.
Through the IDAE, 9.2 million euros have been allocated for the financing of thermal and electricity generation projects with renewable sources.
In 2022, 69.4 million euros were invested to local projects within the Aid Plan for Unique Clean Energy Projects in Municipalities of Reto Demográfico.
In addition, an additional EUR 115 million has been allocated to support the implementation of various incentive programmes linked to self-consumption and storage, with renewable energy sources, as well as the implementation of renewable thermal systems in the residential sector.
SCIENCE
As for the scientific sector, once again, the commitment of the Government in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center is demonstrated, investing 52 million euros in the Mare Nostrum 5, one of the most advanced supercomputers in Europe.
In addition, the Government’s commitment is clear in promoting the use of co-official languages in the technological field, which is why, within the framework of the PERTE New Language Economy, the Barcelona Superomputing Center has received a grant of 3 million euros from the total of 7.5 million to create a solid knowledge base in Catalan.
CULTURE
The Government has a firm commitment to the promotion of culture, this year through the Young Cultural Bonus of 400€ that has benefited 40,520 young people from Catalonia.
10.6 million euros in grants have been resolved in the cultural sector for exhibition halls, the publishing industry, the promotion of cinematography and the audiovisual in co-official languages.
And, finally, it has been possible to start the works of the new Public Library of the State in Barcelona, with a construction investment planned for 55 million euros.
TERRITORIAL COHESION
In the Government’s commitment to the promotion of Catalan infrastructures, we highlight the great impulse that has been given in this year to the Pla de Rodalies 2020-2025 to which 1,012 million euros have been allocated in more than 250 actions.
“Just a month ago, together with the Minister of Mobility, Raquel Sánchez, we inaugurated the new Sant Andreu station with three months of work that culminated in one of the largest railway actions in recent years in Spain, which gives a fundamental impulse to the Sagrera project,” said the delegate who stressed that these works “sought the balance between reducing the affectations and adjusting the deadlines to the maximum.”
“The train is a priority strategy for the local urban agenda, since it contributes to improving mobility and the economic and social development of the city,” said Gay, who recalled that in the Rodalies plan, actions worth 2,224 million are completed or in execution, “that is 48% of the resources of the first phase of the Plan are already in works.”
He has also highlighted the purchase of new trains by Renfe, “in a decision of the Government to service the citizens putting it before the competitive confrontation.”
RESPONSE TO THE UKRAINIAN WAR
In order to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine, the Government has promoted a series of measures that focus on protecting the most vulnerable groups and supporting the most affected productive sectors, guaranteeing supplies and lowering fuel and electricity prices.
This is reflected in the fact that more than 738,147 people have benefited from the free purchase of Renfe multi-travel subscriptions in Rodalies and Media Distancia from September 1 to December 31, 2022 and 19,492 users have purchased AVANT rail service subscriptions with a 50% discount.
In addition, it is planned to extend both measures in 2023. “In fact, today I can announce that RENFE has already issued in Catalonia 295,925 free tickets to travel from January 1 to April 30 of this year in the services of Rodalies. Of these, 84.2% corresponds to the Barcelona network and the rest to regional services”.
In turn, some 69,000 people have benefited from the aid of 200 euros for low income and wealth, approved by the Government to mitigate the impact of high inflation, having already paid 13.8 million euros to the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, in order to raise the social shield.
And within this framework, 11.6 million euros of additional aid of €100 has been granted to vulnerable sectors for the 69,897 student scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year.
AGRICULTURAL AND LIVESTOCK SECTOR
Within this framework, and to strengthen our primary production system, the agriculture and livestock sector has also been contemplated, allocating more than 19.5 million euros to our farmers and ranchers.
For more information: Cumpliendo2023.pdf