“Melilla has no future if we only execute what comes to us from Madrid or what we do every year from the Autonomous City. We have to change the strategy, try new things and work continuously so that the city has real opportunities for development and employment,” said the Provincial Director of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) in Melilla, Jorge Vera.
In an interview with Televisión Melilla, Vera has highlighted the need to promote an active strategy of attracting companies and dynamizing the labor market that complements the programs of active employment policies.
Thus, the Provincial Director stressed that on his arrival at the Provincial Directorate, the objective was “to make the greatest public investment that has been achieved so far in the city to generate employment opportunities”, a milestone reached in 2025 thanks to the commitment of the Government of Spain, which has destined the strongest investment in this matter in history, with the implementation of three Employment Plans -2 from the Government Delegation and 1 from the Autonomous City- and specific programs such as the Tandem.
Projection of Melilla
However, he stressed that this investment must be accompanied by a parallel work of business prospecting. “While consolidating the Employment Plans and getting unemployment figures down progressively, we have to talk to companies, teach them the tax advantages and opportunities offered by Melilla and, above all, go out and look for them,” he said.
In this sense, Vera has advanced its participation next October in a forum organized by Barcelona Activa, in which it will transfer to Catalan business associations the work situation of the city and the fiscal advantages of being established in Melilla. “It is important that we go hand in hand with the Autonomous City to present ourselves as a united and attractive territory for investment,” and for this he has extended this invitation to the Minister of Economy, Trade, Technological Innovation, Tourism and Development.
The Provincial Director also highlighted the need to focus on sectors with a city tour, such as energy efficiency or the development of projects linked to the technological field. “The installation of photovoltaic panels is an impressive market. We have local companies that can grow a lot if we give them facilities,” he said.
In this regard, he has said that SEPE is working with Madrid so that it can also offer compulsory training to companies free of charge, in order to lighten the economic burden that it entails for them and promote the creation of stable and quality employment.
“We have to work in parallel: strengthen active employment policies and, at the same time, open up new avenues for economic development. That is the only way to guarantee a future of real opportunities for Melilla,” he concluded.