The president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, has pledged 100 milion euros of the 2021 budgets to the Vega Baja’s re-enhancement projects. The plans were presented recently in the Almoradi auditorium, the town which became the “ground zero” of the tragic flood that devastated many of the municipalities of the region. This is an ambitious plan aimed at turning the Vega Baja into a resistant and resilient territory in the face of extreme meteorological episodes. The plan will see the implementation of the necessary infrastructures so that the region is “reborn” after the DANA of 2019. The plan is the result of 135 meetings across 9 months with all the social, economic and political bodies of the region.
There are 28 projects that come under the”Sustainability, growth, digitisation and innovation” banner. Puig requested the support of the European Union, the central Government, the Provincial Council, the town councils and also private entities – because several hundred million euros are needed to ensure that the region has everything it needs to minimise damage from further severe storms.
In this sense, the head of the Consell announced that in the next budgets of the Generalitat in 2021, there will be a specific provision for projects in the ‘Vega Renhace Plan’ of 100 million euros , although he did not specify which elements will be the first to be implemented. The president’s announcement did not stop there and he indicated that he will propose to Europe a series of projects related specifically to the Vega Baja for which it is expected to request 400 million euros in the first request for the Reconstruction Fund. This money will be added to the 100 million that the European Investment Bank has approved to grant the Generalitat for the repair of infrastructures and prevention of damage by DANA.
The Regional President visited the “ground zero” of the floods that devastated much of the region, on the banks of the Segura river in Almoradí. He inspected the retaining wall which has been rebuilt by the Segura Hydrographic Confederation.
The Renhace Plan arises from a process of participation between all areas of society in the region and has resulted in 28 major lines of intervention divided into three axes: hydraulic infrastructures, climate emergency and society.