From 14 - 16 February 2024, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira will visit the regions of Castilla y León and Asturias in Spain to see first-hand how Cohesion Policy is delivering in the regions, and more specifically, how the Just Transition Fund (JTF) is supporting the transition to a climate-neutral economy.
- 15 February 2024
On Thursday, Commissioner Ferreira will meet the President of the Castilla y León region in Valladolid. She will then visit the Santa Bárbara Foundation in Folgoso de la Ribera (Province of León). The Foundation offers training to workers from the mining and energy sectors to ensure that they can secure jobs in other sectors. She will also meet the representatives of the ‘Mesa de Transición Justa’ of Castilla y León – trade unions that participated in the negotiations of the Territorial Just Transition Plan for León and Palencia.
The Commissioner will then take the train from León to Oviedo on the high-speed railway line, ‘Variante de Pajares’, built thanks to more than €518 million in Cohesion Policy funds.
On Friday, the Commissioner will meet the President of the Principality of Asturias and the regional Minister of Ecological Transition, Industry and Economic Development. A press point is scheduled after the meeting in Oviedo.
She will also meet representatives of the Asturian civil society linked to the Just Transition Observatory of the Principality of Asturias (a body created to evaluate the Transition).
The trip will conclude with a visit to the ‘Windar Renovables factory’ in Avilés, in Asturias, which produces wind components that are sold and used globally.
For the 2021-2027 programming period, Spain has received almost €869 million from the JTF to help the country transition to a climate-neutral economy. Asturias is the main beneficiary region of the JTF in Spain, having a total allocation of €262 million.