ARONA (TENERIFE), 2nd Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, and the Minister for Tourism and Employment of the Canary Islands Government, Jessica de León, formalised the amended addendum to three agreements regarding the implementation of the aid line for tourism resilience projects in extrapeninsular territories on Wednesday.
This alteration effectively permits greater flexibility in the requirements and the reallocation of funds to facilitate these initiatives, which benefit from a funding line of 100 million euros in direct subsidies.
The signing of this addendum, which took place in the Press Room at the Pirámide de Arona Convention Centre during the ‘IV Turespaña Convention’, modifies the financeable actions with the intention of achieving a more effective and suitable execution that meets the objectives outlined in the various agreements, whose implementation period has been extended to the maximum allowed by the European Commission (30th June 2025) through a Royal Decree passed on 4th June.
Minister Hereu emphasised the significance of “establishing agreements between different administrations to fully utilise the subsidies from the Recovery Plan funds”, facilitating the comprehensive execution of projects aimed at enhancing the tourism sector in crucial areas such as the competitiveness and resilience of destinations.
Minister Hereu expressed gratitude to the autonomous community of the Canary Islands “for the commitment and efforts made to leverage all the resources that the Government of Spain has allocated through the Recovery Plan, essential for adapting tourist destinations to a changing environment that presents numerous challenges for the sector across the islands.”
For her part, Tourism Minister Jessica de León clarified that this signature alters the timeline and defines certain milestones to ensure effective utilisation of the funds.
COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY
“The aim is for those 100 million euros to remain in the Canary Islands and to be utilised to promote initiatives that enhance the destination’s competitiveness, with sustainability as the core focus,” she stated.
Among other initiatives, these agreements include funding to support collaborative programmes with public training centres, the private sector, and international hospitality schools, the establishment of a tourism innovation centre for the Canary Islands, long-stay tourism promotion initiatives, and other strategic segments pivotal for tourism in the islands. They also aim to improve access to tourist data resources and generate activities and projects that yield a tourist return for the Canary Islands, as noted by the Ministry.
Specifically, the ‘Tourism resilience strategy for extra-peninsular territories’ relates to the third investment of the Modernisation and Competitiveness Plan for the Tourism Sector (Component 14 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain).
This aid line, tailored for particularly vulnerable territories, allocates 100 million euros in direct subsidies to the Canary Islands for initiatives that enhance the destination’s competitiveness and its capacity to adapt to market changes.
The Ministry for Industry and Tourism has dedicated over 290 million euros to the Canary Islands for projects centred on tourism sustainability, digital transformation, diversification, heritage preservation, resilience in extrapeninsular territories, digital skills enhancement, and social sustainability.
