The government delegate in Galicia, José Miñones, has today confirmed in Ferrol the commitment of the Government of Pedro Sánchez with the city and with its mayor, Ángel Mato, by presenting a new departure of 1 million euros granted by the Government for the restoration of the Castle of San Felipe. José Miñones has stressed that the Government is with Ferrol and with its future, with figures that “are the result of the good management and good work of the mayor”, and that put Ferrol at the head of the Spanish cities with greater investment of the Government: “In these four years, with Pedro Sánchez in the Government of Spain and Ángel Mato in the mayor’s office, Ferrol has attracted more than 5,000 million euros of investments.”
To the aid granted to reform the Castle of San Felipe, historical items are added, “response to old demands neglected and that now become reality,” said the delegate. José Miñones recalled that in recent years, the Government has ratified the investments of more than 4.3 billion euros of the F-110 Frigates program; the remodeling of the avenue of As Pías, with 11 million euros; 95 million euros to connect by train the External Port, and 3.5 million euros more for housing rehabilitation.
José Miñones traveled today to the castle of San Felipe accompanied by the mayor of Ferrol, Ángel Mato, and the deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, to know the project that will be developed in this bastion of the ferrolana estuary. The Ministry for Ecological Transition has selected this project in the resolution of aid to municipalities affected by fair transition processes, which is managed by the Institute for Fair Transition.
The delegate recalled that, within the scope of this call, the Government will finance 17 projects in 14 municipalities that are part of the fair transition agreements of As Pontes and Meirama. The total contribution of the Ministry amounts to 12.4 million euros with which, in addition to the restoration of San Felipe, homes for the elderly will be built, natural spaces for public use will be rehabilitated or spaces for cultural and associative centers will be recovered.
José Miñones has advanced that the Institute for the Just Transition is preparing a new call for aid for these municipalities with 25 million euros more available: “I encourage the municipalities of this region and Lugo linked to fair transition to prepare projects to attend this new call and achieve new investments.”
To this new call the municipalities will be able to present projects focused on leisure and tourism, with proposals for the recovery of green spaces and heritage. They will also be able to apply for grants to create spaces that encourage business activity and entrepreneurship, and even to increase the public rental housing stock at reduced prices to attract people.
Restoration of St. Philip
The project, selected by the Institute for the Just Transition, aims to recover and enhance the value of San Felipe Castle, a defensive fortress of the sixteenth century, declared BIC, and which is one of the most important examples of military construction in the region. To do this, the High Battery and the Commander’s House (or Governor’s House), which is in a dilapidated state, will be performed to adapt it as a cafeteria use.
The works planned in the High Battery include cleaning and repairing the walls and the garden to recover its original character; improving access to the shoulder and its safety with a new railing; cleaning and repairing the granite flooring inside the battery and the adaptation of an access area with similar stone; and recovering the granite pipes that led the water to the existing gargoyle.
In the rehabilitation and conditioning of the House of the Commander it is contemplated the recovery of the envelope by removing the additions of the last century; works of consolidation and repair of the structures of the existing walls; reconstruction of the horizontal structure of the upper floor of one of the buildings and of the stairs of communication with the ground floor; reconstruction of the disappeared roofs respecting the original constructive systems; execution of new wooden carpentry and installation of a water purification system.