The government delegate in Galicia, José Miñones, today encouraged all the municipalities of Galicia with interest in modernizing their tourism management to take advantage of the new extraordinary call of the Tourism Sustainability Plans of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism with funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government.
José Miñones stressed that “local entities are facing a unique opportunity because this call subsidizes 100% of the cost of the programs, so it does not compromise the budgets of these entities.”
The Government reserved 21 million euros for local entities in Galicia but, in addition, there is a specific item for plans that fit into the priority of this year’s National Tourism Plan, which is “blue tourism”. The delegate explained that this concept covers tourism related to the sea and freshwater aquatic spaces, “and in both aspects Galicia has a lot to say”.
All kinds of destinations and experiences
About the type of destinations that can opt for this call, José Miñones clarified that all types of destinations can be chosen, as in previous calls, whether they are part of the priority of blue tourism this year or not: “I insist, we are moving towards sustainability of tourism management and this must reach all destinations and municipalities, of the interior, of the coast, related to natural spaces, heritage sites, or to the manifestations of our culture. It is a path for everyone and for everyone.”
The third extraordinary call for Destination Tourism Sustainability Plans is open until March 6. Until that moment, local entities in Galicia can submit their candidacies directly in the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
In this headquarters, the Secretary of State for Tourism enabled a specific section from which the applications will have to be processed, with on-line forms and instructions to complete them, and where municipalities and other local entities will be able to consult all the documentation with the information related to this third extraordinary call.
The initiatives of local entities will be evaluated jointly by the Secretary of State for Tourism and the autonomous communities in which they are located. The Xunta can also opt for these funds through Cohesion Actions in the Destinations in the territory of Galicia, in parallel to the Sustainability Plans promoted by the municipalities.
The delegate stressed the extraordinary imoulso that the Government of Pedro Sánchez is giving to the modernization of tourist destinations in Galicia. Since 2020, the investment of the Government of Spain in the modernization and transformation of tourism in Galicia amounts to 200 million euros. Of this amount, José Miñones highlighted that the already resolved calls for Sustainable Tourism Plans in Destinations alone add 85.7 million euros of investment for 34 sustainable tourism projects that impact in one of every two municipalities in Galicia.