The subdelegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, highlighted in the Somozas the impulse that the Just Transition funds are giving to the industrial transformation of the concello and Ferrolterra. He did so during an institutional visit to the Concello, where he was received by the mayor, Juan Alonso Tembrás, with whom he reviewed the investments of the Government in the locality. He also had the opportunity to sign in the Book of Honor of the municipality.
María Rivas took advantage of the visit to remember that the Government invested about four million euros in the Somozas through these funds, 971,824.35 euros in the rehabilitation of the old municipal schools to transform them into social housing and equipment for the neighborhood, and another 3 million euros for the company Recinor Valogreene to raise in the town a waste treatment plant that brings with it the creation of 25 jobs. “They are part of the approximately 20 million euros that the Government invests in the province through the Ministry of Ecological Transition for projects in the territories affected by the closure of the thermal power plants of the Pontes and Meirama, in Cerceda,” said the deputy delegate.
“These funds are called to transform these territories and improve the quality of life of the neighbors of As Somozas and Galicia; 20 million euros in total that reaffirm the commitment of the Government to transform the productive model by another more respectful of the environment; with the creation of employment and with the fixation of population in these regions,” said the subdelegate.
In addition, he indicated that the Institute for the Just Transition also has in place a cultural program, Dinamiz-ARTj, an initiative aimed at generating cultural offer and employment in these territories and that, in the case of As Somozas, it offered in this second edition ten musical, theater and storytelling performances, free and for all audiences.
MAVI delivery
After the visit to the Council, the deputy delegate, accompanied by the mayor and the head of the Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Subdelegation, Manuela Vilaboy, went to the Civic Center of the town to deliver the Travelling Suitcase against Gender Violence (MAVI), “an essential tool to promote critical thinking in the face of stereotypes and gender roles that are socially perpetuated and promote gender violence,” said Rivas.
The suitcase will contribute to the municipal activities, remaining in the Somozas for the next three months. There are 15 books, 6 titles of child-youth reading such as ‘There is something more boring than being a pink princess?’, by Raquel Díaz Regueira, or ‘Tales for good nights for rebellious girls’, by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo. 9 books for adults, including ‘Lies to Be a Real Woman. Manual for beginners’, by Rocío Salazar, and ‘Those days when I was bad’, by Inma López Silva.
The latest novelty is the incorporation of the collection of illustrations ‘Brave Women’ ceded by Rosa de Cabanas, representing well-known but also anonymous women, referents in different historical moments. Writers, painters, scientists, architects, sculptors, costureiras, teachers or activists on many occasions silenced by history.
Readers who wish to do so also have at their disposal a MAVI journal in which they can collect their experience or make suggestions. The objective is that they contribute to enrich the initiative, which aims to be dynamic and improve throughout its journey. In fact, María Rivas reported that several municipalities are enriching the contents of the suitcase by adding their own publications that have local women as protagonists, thus expanding the catalogue of titles available and allowing them to be known in the rest of the municipalities of the province.
The objectives of the MAVI are to bring the neighbourhood closer to reading on issues of feminism, violence against women, empowerment or self-esteem; to promote critical thinking in the face of gender roles and stereotypes; to promote reading as a tool for equality; to raise awareness of gender violence and to promote the reading of texts written by women, so that society has female references in the field of culture.
In this regard, María Rivas stressed that “initiatives such as the travelling suitcase are essential to continue promoting equality and raising awareness of the need to make progress in the fight against male violence.” She also recalled that all the books incorporate two QR codes that refer to the page of the Government Delegation against Gender Violence and another to the information of the violet points of the Ministry of Equality.
MAVI started its trip in Vimianzo in 2022 and since then has 14 municipalities in the province, the Social Insertion Center of A Coruña, and the NGO Fiet and continues its trip, since currently it has more than 30 applications.