The projects for the recovery of spaces for environmental purposes will be funded by the Government's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has confirmed to La Línea de la Concepción Town Council the provisional resolution for the granting of a subsidy, for a total amount of five million euros, aimed at the execution of two projects: "Re-interpreting the Princesa Sofía Park" and "Defensive Line of the Levante Coast".
Once definitively approved, the execution period for the works will be until 2026. In the case of the park, the works are scheduled to begin in August 2024, with a duration of 18 months.
These subsidies are aimed at carrying out environmental, social and digital infrastructure projects in municipalities in areas affected by the energy transition, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
The presentation of this resolution took place this morning by the Mayor of La Línea de la Concepción, Juan Franco, who gave a very positive assessment of the resolution, 80% of which will go towards the recovery of the Princesa Sofía Park and the rest towards the Fort of Santa Bárbara and the recovery of the Torrenueva area, "demonstrating the commitment of the Town Council to environmental issues and the recovery of the city's main green lung". Juan Franco was accompanied by the Deputy Mayor for Subsidies, Sebastián Hidalgo, and the Councillor for Parks and Gardens, Raquel Ñeco.
With the execution of this work, the park will return to the appearance it had when it was built in the seventies, with both projects being part of the development planned for the city, with a southeast sector in which a Technology Interpretation Centre will be located in the area of the fairgrounds, the planning of which is well advanced, and the recovery of the Sports City, which will include the new Football Stadium, the surrounding car park, work on which will begin shortly, and the sports complex which will include an Athletics Stadium and the Olympic Shooting Gallery, which together with the projects for the fort and the tower, "will be a milestone in the recovery of urban spaces and Assets of Cultural Interest, making it possible to increase the historical and cultural offer and tourism".
The mayor thanked the work of the technicians of the Grants delegation, reiterating the connection between these two projects with the idea of the city already planned, with a connection between the park, the development of Poniente and the micro-reserve of Arroyo Negro in Levante.
These interventions are in addition to those already initiated, and those planned for execution, in the five most important buildings in the city such as the old Town Hall and the Military Command, with a project on the latter for its regeneration with a view to the next mandate, in addition to the interventions already carried out in the Plaza de Toros and the Mercado de la Concepción, a building that could be operational before the end of this year, "which is an example of the city project we have been working on since 2015".
For his part, Sebastián Hidalgo stressed that the Town Hall has obtained the total of the 5 million in aid planned for municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, 4 of them for the recovery of the park and 1 for the Fort of Santa Bárbara, in addition to the initiative being rated as the best of those presented at Andalusian level.
The interventions planned for the Fort of Santa Bárbara and the surroundings of Torrenueva, according to the project presented at municipal level, will be:
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Rehabilitation and adaptation for visits. An intervention project (cleaning, conservation, consolidation and enhancement) is planned for the Fort of Santa Bárbara and the New Tower. In addition, work will be carried out around the structures, creating pedestrian and cycle routes with walkways built with sustainable materials, and installing urban elements designed to protect visitors from inclement weather, and which will include information of interest in several languages, as well as Braille. An intelligent lighting system with photovoltaic panels and movement sensors will also be used, as well as an irrigation system with remote management and rain sensors that will allow water resources to be used in the most efficient way. In addition, it is intended to act in the surroundings of Torre Nueva trying to implement the biodiversity of the area and to accommodate the visitor at the same time.
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Innovation, communication and dissemination of information. A free mobile application will be developed in 4 languages with audio-text version and reading of QR codes, which will allow access to all the information of interest.