The Minister of Tourism and Andalusia Exterior, Arturo Bernal, has highlighted the role of tourism as a driver of social and economic transformation in the community in recent years. «Thanks to this industry, many Andalusians have had new job opportunities and, at the same time, our cities and our cultural and natural heritage have been revitalized. This is an industry that reinvests its benefits in the community».
In this regard, Bernal emphasized that the Junta of Andalusia has allocated over 326 million euros in direct investments to local entities related to improving connectivity in communications, creating and maintaining rural roads, green routes, bike lanes and EcoRutas, seafront promenades, beach regeneration, improving their facilities, or regenerating natural spaces.
These investments have reached 617 municipalities, demonstrating the capillarity and redistributive effect of the tourism sector in the Andalusian territory.
Among them, the Tourism Sustainability Plans in Destination stand out, with a total investment exceeding 225 million euros in the period from 2021-2023, funded by European funds and managed by the Junta, as well as the Tourism Plans for Major Cities, with 43.7 million committed.
Additionally, over 25 million have been allocated to subsidies in tourism municipalities, almost 11 million for contributing to beach improvements and over 9 million allocated to accessibility and enhancement of the cultural and natural heritage in the interior, reinforcing the tourism development of areas that had traditionally been left out of the economic impact of this activity.
The Minister of Tourism, Arturo Bernal, at the public company of Andalusian Tourism (File).
This investment of 326 million has allowed for the implementation of some actions aimed at improving the urban environment and accessibility, conserving the cultural and natural heritage, updating facilities in water and waste management, and boosting tourism offerings.
Among these actions, some of them are as follows:
1. Restoration of fountains and washhouses or enhancement of viewpoints in Conil de la Frontera.
2. Renovation and paving of the seafront promenade in Carboneras.
3. Restoration and improvement of the bullring in Cazorla.
4. Construction of an adapted pedestrian access by embankment on the Carvajal Beach in Benalmádena.
5. Improvement of the sewage evacuation system from toilets on Costacabana Beach to the municipality’s sewage network and adaptation of the water drainage system from the showers on the Costacabana and Retamar beaches, in Almería.
6. Revegetation and protection of the coastal front to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on the seafront promenade in Motril.
7. Project to improve accessibility and facilities at the hermitage of San Sebastián in Ayamonte.
8. SEBIF Dome project for the consolidation of FIBES 2 as the main building for events, fairs, and cultural shows in Seville.
9. Improvement of equipment and furniture on Marbella beaches.
10. Development of products like ‘Jerez de cine’, ‘Ruta del vino’ and ‘Jerez Natural’, and the creation of a space in the Zoobotanical Park of Jerez to house the sustainable tourism project ‘GADA: Granja de Animales Domésticos Andaluces.
11. Improvement of routes in the natural environment of Villafranca de Córdoba to promote hiking or cycling tourism.
For the Minister of Tourism, these investments have the common goal of reinforcing the work of the Government of Juanma Moreno so that Andalusia becomes a leader in the management of sustainable tourism from a comprehensive perspective, where the social variable takes on increasing importance.
«In Andalusia, we understand sustainability as the capacity of the new tourism model we are building to meet the legitimate expectations and aspirations of all the actors represented in this ecosystem, including, of course, the residents«.
Bernal also wanted to emphasize that all these actions help create quality employment throughout the territory. «The latest data from the ministry in May consolidate Andalusia as the engine of tourism employment in Spain. We were the community that created the most jobs in absolute terms (over eleven thousand jobs) and the second, in relative terms, with a growth above the national average. Tourism is an industry that already provides employment throughout the year, and we have reduced the temporality rate to historic levels».
Andalusia, the Minister concluded, is building «a tourism model for the future that not only takes care of those who visit us, but also of the Andalusian residents who receive them, and of their heritage and natural environments».