Industry and Tourism grants aid worth 207 million euros to 89 projects for the improvement of historical heritage for tourist use

The Silk Exchange of Valencia, one of the monuments that is part of Spain's World Heritage

Eighty-nine projects will benefit from aid worth 207.6 million euros to improve the use of tourism in Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The projects receiving aid - distributed among 13 autonomous communities (see full table at the end of the article) - have been selected taking into account the characteristics of the destination and the viability, quality and tourism potential of the projects. The assessment criteria also include destinations at risk of depopulation in order to boost their tourism potential and strengthen social and territorial cohesion. The Autonomous Communities that have received the largest eligible budget are Andalusia (42.9 million euros), the Region of Murcia (35.4 million euros), Catalonia (30.7 million euros) and the Valencia Region (29.3 million euros).

Minister Jordi Hereu considers it "essential to strengthen and improve Spain's competitiveness with a cultural tourism product that represents the identity, cultural diversity and rich historical heritage of our country" and in this sense he values "positively" the relevance of aid that "will serve to strengthen cultural tourism and will contribute to the diversification, deseasonalisation and quality of our cultural offer, internationally recognised thanks to the 50 assets that have been declared as World Heritage by UNESCO." Spain is the fourth country in Europe with the most World Heritage Sites and the fifth in the world.

The actions to be carried out in these projects include the conservation, maintenance, enhancement and rehabilitation of assets declared as Assets of Cultural Interest for tourist use. It also includes other measures such as improving universal accessibility, improving energy efficiency and saving the consumption of water and energy resources, and reducing and offsetting the carbon footprint, among others.

Non official translation