Galicia aspires to finance 32 mobility projects with the Next Generation

They represent 1.8 billion in public and private investment | Two initiatives associated with Vigo, one of them for smart car parks, in the bid

Cleaner, smarter, more efficient, safer and more competitive mobility. This is how the president of the Xunta, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, synthesized yesterday the spirit of the projects that make up, in the mobility section, the Galician candidacy for the Next Generation funds. Specifically, the Galician president explained in a specific forum in Santiago to address the perspectives related to transport, that the Galician proposal to the European items includes 32 projects – eleven private and 21 of a public nature – in this line. According to the calculations of the regional Executive, these will translate into a public and private investment that represents 1,800 million euros.

Feijóo explained in the Next Generation Galicia Mobilidade Sustainable Forum that the community has been working since its President, 2009, on an “improvement” of mobility and that the Next Generation funds represent a “good opportunity to give a great boost to this commitment”. Because, he argued, “building infrastructure is expensive and, with our orography, doubly expensive”, so that this, he stressed, is an “opportunity to close mobility in Galicia.”

Among the eleven projects led by the private initiative, the president of the Xunta highlighted two linked to the Vigo area: Smart Logistic Areas Galicia and Green Bay.

Smart Logistic Areas Galicia is promoted by the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Galicia and Pontevedra, the Vigo Port Authority, the Galician Loxistics Function cluster, the sectoral associations of engineering companies (Ageinco), transport (Asetraspo) and builders of Pontevedra, as well as the Plisan.

The aspiration of this project is to create non-invasive smart parking areas for road transport vehicles in the main logistics areas of Galicia, which are located on the outskirts of cities. From the outset, an initial pilot is proposed in Vigo, which would be replicable in Ourense, Santiago, Lugo, A Coruña and Ferrol. The aim is to eliminate the circulation of transport vehicles in the center and the surroundings of cities to reduce pollution, but also to promote care for the environment by including electric refueling points and other sustainable fuels in car parks.

For its part, Green Bay is promoted by the Asociación Clúster do Naval Galego (Aclunaga), with the collaboration of CTAG, Aimen, Aister, the Vigo Port Authority and the support of the Xunta. One of its goals is to transform maritime transport in the Vigo estuary through electrification to reduce the environmental impact of boat traffic –with the mission of achieving zero emissions–, as well as modernizing the port facilities from the it is committed to electric propulsion systems that are “efficient and functional”. The project also ranges from the development of an electric ferry prototype to hybrid inshore fishing boats.

Among the public initiative projects, the president referred to those promoted by the Department of Infrastructure, for an amount of 400 million euros and that would result in the creation, explains the Xunta in a statement, of 2,300 jobs. Among the actions they contemplate, Feijóo alluded to the development of applications for a comprehensive management of Galician public transport services, the construction of dissuasive parking with electric charging points or the connection of industrial estates to the Trans-European Transport Network.

Feijóo recalled the Galician leadership in sectors such as automotive, naval or renewables and ended his speech by claiming “competitive attendance and objectivity when opting for European funds.”

@FarodeVigo