The City Council has already obtained 128 million in European funds for sustainable investments

The person in charge of Finance and European Funds of the City Council, Blanca Solans, has been the guest of the ADEA Meeting, where the impact of European funds and attractive taxation has been addressed

Redacción Monday, September 30, 2024 / 10:36

Zaragoza is a reference city in Spain for companies wishing to carry out investment projects in conditions of trust and stability. This was explained by the Minister of Finance and European Funds of the Zaragoza City Council, Blanca Solans, during the ADEA Meeting organised by this entity at the Xplora Space of Ibercaja.

Solans was the guest in this format organised by the Association of Managers and Executives of Aragon (ADEA), which consisted of a conversation with its president, Fernando Rodrigo, and which was opened, as host, by the Territorial Director in Aragon of Ibercaja, Antonio Lacoma.

In the new format, Solans has spoken with the president of ADEA, Fernando Rodrigo

“The impact of European investments and attractive taxation for the business sector in Zaragoza” was the title of this event, which highlighted the strengths that have led the Aragonese capital to become the second city in Europe, after Madrid, in attracting community funds.

Specifically, Solans explained, “Zaragoza City Council has already obtained 128.3 million euros of European funds to carry out sustainable investments of great interest for the progress of the city.” Among them “it is worth highlighting, for example, the electrification of the bus fleet, the regeneration of the banks of the Huerva, the
Bosque de los Zaragozanos, the new network of public rental bicycles or aid for the energy rehabilitation of homes, the management of the entire water cycle, the digitalization of infrastructures or waste management processes, among others.”

The minister has highlighted the “multiplier effect” of these funds, which are having a very positive impact on the business fabric and on the quality of life of citizens, and has linked it to the “ European agenda of Zaragoza”. In this sense, she has recalled that Zaragoza “is playing a leading role, as one of the cities chosen by the European Commission to lead environmental sustainability policies and serve as a reference for the whole of the Union”. This is the function of the so-called ‘lighthouse cities’, among which is the capital of Aragon, within the Mission of Climate Neutral Cities. Its objective is to achieve climate neutrality in 2030, thus serving as a guide for the rest of European cities, which have the year 2050 as their horizon.

The Territorial Director in Aragon of Ibercaja, Antonio Lacoma, has opened the dialogue

CITY WITH LOWEST TAX PRESSURE

Blanca Solans also recalled that “Zaragoza is one of the Spanish capitals with the lowest tax pressure, well below other large cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Seville or Valencia”. The Zaragoza City Council has developed the so-called Tax Plan to Attract Investments, which includes significant bonuses on municipal taxes -IBI, IAE and ICIO- for companies that develop investment and job creation projects.

MORE INVESTMENT AND LESS FINANCIAL INTERESTS

Solans also assured that “the Zaragoza City Council’s commitment to public investment and to facilitating private investment through attractive taxation in stable conditions is being combined with a policy of reducing the financial burden. This strategy has borne fruit in the last year with several debt refinancing operations, which have resulted in savings of 4.7 million euros in 2024.”