- The Government delegate in Catalonia values the investments of the State in Catalonia
Vallbona de les Monges, April 4, 2024.- The Government delegation in Catalonia has convened the territorial coordination committee to assist the delegate in Vallbona de les Monges (Lleida) to address the drought situation that continues to affect Catalonia despite the last rains and the consequences of the storm on the Catalan coast. The committee that was held in the Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona, and which was chaired by the Government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, was attended by the Government subdelegate in Barcelona, Pepín Beltran, the Lleida subdelegate, José Crespín, the Tarragona subdelegate, Santiago Castellà, as well as the new Government subdelegate in Girona, Pere Parramon.
DROUGHT
The government delegate in Catalonia has shown his “concern” for the situation, regretted “the lack of investment by the governments of the Generalitat in recent years” and recalled that the Government of Spain has responded from the beginning of the last legislature to the drought emergency with investments amounting to 12 billion euros in all watersheds to promote desalination and water reuse. “To this endowment are added 3,060 million of the PERTE of digitization of the Water Cycle and 2,130 million for the modernization of irrigation, in order to reduce leaks and losses,” he said.
TEMPORARY
Prieto has also asked the subdelegates to speed up the procedures so that the municipalities affected by the storms of recent weeks obtain, through the General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the aid to speed up the repair works of the maritime walks before the summer tourist season begins.
REGANTES
At the meeting, the State’s investments in Catalonia and its commitment to the irrigation communities were also valued. In Lleida, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through the State Commercial Society of Agrarian Infrastructures (SEIASA), signed an addendum to the agreement to modernize the irrigation of Fraga, Aitona and Serós with an expected investment of 20.71 million euros. In Girona, SEISA signed two other agreements with the community of Presa de Colomers for a value of 26.63 million euros and with the irrigators of Rec del Molí de Pals for 9.2 million euros to modernize its facilities. With these latest agreements, the Government has already invested about 117.79 million euros in this sector benefiting more than 7,800 Catalan irrigators. “The Government of Spain is still very present throughout Catalonia responding to the needs of citizens,” said Prieto.
DESALINATION
The delegate also recalled the investment already planned by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of 460 million euros for the desalination plants of Foix and Tordera II, infrastructures that “unfortunately are lacking in Catalonia, due to the lack of investment in recent years by the Government.”
INFRASTRUCTURE MOBILITY
Prieto has also taken stock of the mobility infrastructures carried out by the Ministry of Transport and, in this regard, has highlighted that Catalonia is the community where the most investment was executed in 2023.
The delegate spoke about the important investment that the Government has made in recent years in Rodalies and explained that the necessary working groups have already been constituted to carry out the transfer of the service to the Catalan government after the constitution of a new joint State-Generalitat company. In addition, he has been optimistic about the pace of implementation of the Mediterranean Corridor.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE
On the eve of the delegate’s visit to the SEAT factory on the occasion of the construction of the battery system assembly plant, he highlighted the significant investment made in recent years by the government through European funds. In particular, he mentioned that this new SEAT-CUPRA battery assembly line will have a government allocation of 48 million euros from PERTE VEC II. A company that also with the Volkswagen SEAT tractor project of electrification of the factory and through the PERTE VEC I will receive 41.4 million euros.
GOVERNMENT SUBDELEGATIONS
In the committee of territorial coordination of assistance to the delegate, issues that affect the subdelegations of the Government have also been addressed, such as the situation of the beaches affected by the strong storm in recent weeks. In Girona, for example, there has been talk of the project for the city to have a provincial archive and in Tarragona, of the exports of live animals from the port of Tarragona. With regard to Barcelona, the pollution affecting the regions of Osona has been addressed, while in Lleida an assessment of aid for the agricultural sector has been made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and for the modernization of irrigation.