THE province of Malaga in the region of Andalucia has been awarded a €90 million budget boost increase over last years funding of €351.4 million.
Projects earmarked in the budget include funds for a study to link Ronda with the motorway, a visitor centre for Sierra de las Nieves national park, the construction of new judicial courts, and a solution for the treatment of waste material entering the water at the Guadalhorce reservoir in Malaga.
The regional Infrastructure minister, Marifrán Carazo, told local people in the Ronda area that as far back as 2010, when work on the Arriate bypass, near Ronda, was restarted, that the Junta had been committed to studying the possibility of a motorway link from the province of Malaga to the town, which has been a long-standing demand. With fresh funds allocated, dreams the local residents have of being able to travel to say Malaga airport in a short time could soon become a reality.
The budget sets aside funding for improvements to The Sierra de Las Nieves national park, which is home to one of Spain’s most bio-diverse ecosystems, with over 1,500 different species of plants, some of which are only found in the Ronda area. The park is also home to over 120 species of birds, ranging from black kites to golden eagles, plus a host of interesting invertebrates like the red swamp crawfish and rare salamander species.
The park has long been a source of pride that Real de La Quinta is located at the southern border of the Sierra de Las Nieves – a UNESCO protected Biosphere stretching into the mountains that form the backdrop to our development. The Sierra de Las Nieves took a huge step towards becoming Spain’s 16th National Park in February 2021 – and only the third in Andalucia after Sierra Nevada and Coto Donana – which enshrined its status and protected its future as an area of exceptional natural beauty.
The construction of new judicial headquarters in Torremolinos has the go-ahead and will cost €475,000 while €200,000 has been allocated for another one in Estepona.
The former San Agustín convent and school will be the home of the new Provincial Library and will receive five million euros of investment. This project, which will require around €20 million euros, has already attracted the interest of some major construction companies.
The Andalucia 2022 budget also includes funding of €2.51 million for restoration works of the 15th century Pavilion on the island of Cartuja (located on the Guadalquivir River Sevilla), which is part of the Andalucian Center for Contemporary Art. There is another item for the adaptation of the Sala Santa Inés (€700,000 ), and for the reconstruction of the Church of San Pedro del Castillo de Sanlúcar la Mayor (€250,000).
Sewage in the Guadalhorce reservoir is estimated to cost the Junta millions of euros in fines by the EU. In the future, waste from Alhaurín el Grande, like that from Cártama, will be treated at the Malaga Norte plant, which the Junta is currently building, however, it is not expected to be completed until at least 2025.
According to the latest published data from the Quarterly Regional Accounts of Andalucia, published by the Institute of Statistics of Andalucia (Instituto de Contabilidad Regional Trimestral de Andalucía) the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), corrected for seasonal and calendar effects, registered a growth rate for the second quarter of the year of 3.6% compared to the previous quarter.
This figure is more than three times the average for Spain (1.1%) and above the growth rates recorded in the Euro Zone and the EU (1.2%) the Euro Zone and the EU (2.2% and 2.1%, respectively). In year-on-year terms, it reached an increase of 18.2%.
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