Sagunto, a city in the Valencia province, Spain, has been granted €2 million to develop its sustainable tourism sector,
The grant came from the EU’s Next Generation fund, created to help EU Member States and their regions recover from the COVID pandemic.
According to Valencian regional daily, Las Provincias, the city says it aims to use the money to strengthen its “culture of the sea”.
Natalia Antonino, the Tourism Councillor, underscored the confidence given to the municipality by both the Spanish national level and the Valencian regional level by letting it decide how to spend the grant given to it under the Sustainable Tourism Plan.
The main idea is that the new tourism economy that the city promotes will not be as vulnerable to future economic shocks.
She commended the rigorous efforts undertaken by the Tourism department to secure this grant, foreseeing its profound impact on transforming Sagunto’s tourism landscape in the coming three years.
The primary objectives of Sagunto’s Destination Sustainable Tourism Plan aims to promote eco-friendly mobility such as creating new bike lanes in the area.
There is also a targeted focus on adapting and elevating the Grau Vell, the city’s abandoned old port, which has been recognised not just for its historical and archaeological importance, but also for its unique ecological environment.
Councillor Antonino highlighted that this injection of funds would undoubtedly elevate Sagunto’s position as a tourism hub, emphasizing that the municipality was well-prepared to use the money to create a more sustainable and vibrant tourism sector.
She also said that the grant will be used for other initiatives intended to make the Sagunto’s economy more resilient, such as investing fire prevention measures and infrastructure, as well as speeding the area’s digital transition.
This financial boost, anticipated to span three years until June 2026, falls within the ambit of the Destination Sustainable Tourism Plan (DSTP), funded by the Next Generation EU initiative.
The DSTP, an offshoot of the Next Generation EU Fund, forms a crucial component of the broader Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (RTRP). This strategic framework acts as the conduit through which Spain effectively channels resources allocated by European authorities.
At its core, the plan seeks to modernize and fortify the competitiveness of the tourism sector by decentralizing grants, in this instance, to the Sagunto City Council.
