The Government’s Deputy Delegate to Lugo, Isabel Rodríguez, gave an in-depth assessment on Tuesday of the positive impact of the four years of implementation of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan in the province. He did so in an appearance before the media held in the Subdelegation of the Government, where he stressed that “Lugo is receiving, as never before, transformative investments that reach every corner of the province”, emphasizing the commitment to “improving mobility, modernization of companies, support for municipalities and the digitalization and connectivity of the province”.
The Plan, approved by the Council of Ministers in April 2021 in response to the pandemic, was consolidated as an essential tool to modernize the country, strengthen public services and boost social and territorial cohesion.
“Spain was able to turn an unprecedented crisis into a historic opportunity. And the Government of Pedro Sánchez is complying with Galicia and Lugo,” said Rodríguez.
Infrastructure: Lugo recovers lost time
One of the most important milestones is the revival of mobility projects that had been blocked for years. The new Intermodal Station of Lugo, fruit of an agreement between the Ministry of Transport, the City Council and the Xunta, receives 30 million euros from the Recovery Plan, with the Government assuming 63% of the investment. It is a strategic project for a more sustainable mobility and for the urban integration of the railway environment.
The great commitment in mobility is also reflected in the 335 million destined for the integral renewal of the Ourense–Monforte–Lugo line, an unprecedented performance in the Galician interior, which after overcoming unprecedented technical and planning challenges, advances in the final stretch of the plan to complete the performances in the Monforte–Lugo section.
Support for municipalities: funds that structure the territory
A subdelegada highlighted the direct impact of the Plan on small municipalities, which received and continue to receive aid to improve buildings, expand the network and coverage of services and bet on energy efficiency.
One of the main examples of this is the PIREP (Program for the Rehabilitation of Public Buildings), which left 5.5 million euros in the province with projects in the Fonsagrada, Antas de Ulla, Vilalba, Pol, A Pontenova, Portomarín or Rábade.
The DUS 5000 programme also allocated 3.3 million for unique local clean energy projects in demographically challenging municipalities, such as Baraja, O Vicedo or A Pontenova. And in this line, 2.4 million were awarded for the energy community Begonte Genera, a reference in innovation and energy self-sufficiency, and recently, the resolution of the PERTE of digitalization of the water cycle confirmed an investment of 6.9 million for Galicia, which will benefit Lucan municipalities such as Palas de Rei or Sarria.
In addition, progress is being made in projects such as the rehabilitation of the Paradores de Vilalba and Monforte (€2.2M), or the biomass heat network at the USC campus in Lugo (€2.4M), among others.
Productive fabric: innovation in the dairy sector
The province is also a leader in business modernization thanks to the Agri-Food PERTE, from which the SmarTZ4milk project was beneficiary, led by the Lence Group and with the support of 14 companies in the sector, with funding of 8.7 million euros plus a loan at zero interest. The main objective is the improvement of the traceability, the reduction of the environmental footprint and the reinforcement of the sustainability of one of the key industries of the province.
Digitization: rural connects to high speed
In order to ensure equal opportunities, the Recovery Plan is also bringing ultra-fast connectivity to rural areas. Through the UNICO-Broadband program, the province received 22.4 million euros to install fiber optics in previously digitally isolated areas.
At the same time, the Digital Kit benefited more than 6,500 self-employed and SMEs in the province of Lugo, with an investment of 25 million euros, facilitating the digitalization of processes and the increase of competitiveness, especially in traditional sectors.
Low execution of the Xunta: more than 800 million euros without destination
At the intervention of the subdelegate, she did not forget the less positive side of the balance sheet. Rodríguez warned that the Xunta de Galicia only executed 46.6% of the funds transferred by the Government of Spain. Specifically, of the 1,746 million transfers received, Xunta issued calls for proposals worth 1,038 million euros, of which it has today allocated 814 million euros.
“Galicia cannot continue to lose opportunities. The Xunta must execute the funds that are allocated to it. There are almost a billion euros in the drawers, without transforming people’s lives.”
The subdelegate called for more agility and commitment on the part of the regional administration. “While many mayors, mayors and businessmen are taking advantage of the funds, the Xunta slows down progress by not allocating fundamental resources,” he said.
Galicia cannot miss this historic opportunity
Finally, Isabel Rodríguez made a public acknowledgement to the people and entities that are leading transformative projects in Lugo. “To those who are working to make European funds a reality, thank you. And to those who have not yet done so, I ask you not to miss this historic opportunity.”
The Government of Spain, he added, will continue to work for Lugo and Galicia. “Because we believe in the country, we believe in the people and we believe in the future.”