The AMB and metropolitan councils are going to invest €5.7 million to protect metropolitan cultural heritage and promote tourism
AMB's Programme to promote cultural and industrial heritage will restore diverse buildings and places of historic interest to make them suitable for public use and boost touristic impact. The selected projects will apply for European funding through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), thanks to the agreement signed in 2017 between the AMB and the government of Catalonia, which will co-fund 50% of an investment of €60 million in metropolitan projects that meet the requirements established by European regulations. The respective councils and the AMB will each fund 50% of the actions, and the latter will also take charge of drawing up the project and the site management.
In the plenary session held in February, the Metropolitan Council approved the list of projects selected by the Managing Committee of the AMB's Programme to promote cultural and industrial heritage. The aim of the Programme, which is preparing the second call for proposals, is to protect and restore buildings that have special potential to attract tourism and create economic activity in metropolitan municipalities.
The 2016-2019 investment plan, endorsed with €269.66 million for funding investments in natural spaces, public places, infrastructure and facilities, placed importance on highlighting the value of metropolitan heritage (cultural, architectural, archaeological, industrial, agricultural, natural and touristic), thus providing the different municipalities with an identity and characterising the metropolitan area.
As the aforementioned Programme is aligned with Axis 6 (‘Preserving and Protecting the Environment and Promoting Resource Efficiency') of the ERDF Catalonia Operational Programme 2014-2020, which invests in growth and employment, these seven actions in the six metropolitan municipalities that form part of the second call for proposals could be co-funded with resources from the ERDF of the European Union.
It is possible to directly manage European funds as a result of the agreement signed between the AMB and the government of Catalonia in August 2017, which implies a pre-allocation of European resources of €30 million, corresponding to 50% of the investment in metropolitan projects that meet the requirements established by European regulations, divided among the Axes referred to in the agreement.
Selectes projects
The selected actions seek to recover a set of buildings with architectural value, linked to the history of the metropolitan region. They are buildings or factories that date back to the 19th or the beginning of the 20th centuries, associated to the start of industrialisation in Catalonia, with a heritage and cultural value. Priority has been placed on industrial heritage related to watercourses and canals. In addition to their individual value, the fact these buildings are grouped together according to themes and organised in a network will make it possible to design tours of metropolitan tourist interest, create intermunicipal synergies and have an effect on the municipalities' economic development.
The estimated sum of the investments in this call for proposals is €5.7 million (including VAT), although the final drafts of the corresponding projects still have to be completed.
The project selection procedure involved different steps. Firstly, a municipal participation process was opened, in which local councils submitted their proposals in accordance with the themes and objectives of the Programme. Within these proposals, the municipalities showed that the lands were available and suggested uses they would like to give the buildings or areas that need to be restored.
Given the period for performing the operations to be co-funded by the ERDF, the AMB need to be able to execute, pay and complete the proposed projects by 31 December 2023.
Each local council has undertaken to pay 50% of the cost of the project using municipal funds, whereas the AMB will provide the remaining 50% by including the project in the ERDF Catalonia Operational Programme 2014-2020.
The AMB will take charge of the work and will bear the cost of preparing the final designs, and the project and site management, as well as the administrative and technical management. On its part, the Ministry of the Vice-presidency and of the Economy and Finance of the government of Catalonia will act as an intermediary body in the fund allocation management.
The Managing Committee of the AMB's Programme to promote cultural and industrial heritage, with municipal participation, has selected the projects in accordance with the following criteria established in the guidelines of the calls for proposals:
The 2016-2019 investment plan, endorsed with €269.66 million for funding investments in natural spaces, public places, infrastructure and facilities, placed importance on highlighting the value of metropolitan heritage (cultural, architectural, archaeological, industrial, agricultural, natural and touristic), thus providing the different municipalities with an identity and characterising the metropolitan area.
As the aforementioned Programme is aligned with Axis 6 (‘Preserving and Protecting the Environment and Promoting Resource Efficiency') of the ERDF Catalonia Operational Programme 2014-2020, which invests in growth and employment, these seven actions in the six metropolitan municipalities that form part of the second call for proposals could be co-funded with resources from the ERDF of the European Union.
It is possible to directly manage European funds as a result of the agreement signed between the AMB and the government of Catalonia in August 2017, which implies a pre-allocation of European resources of €30 million, corresponding to 50% of the investment in metropolitan projects that meet the requirements established by European regulations, divided among the Axes referred to in the agreement.
Selectes projects
The selected actions seek to recover a set of buildings with architectural value, linked to the history of the metropolitan region. They are buildings or factories that date back to the 19th or the beginning of the 20th centuries, associated to the start of industrialisation in Catalonia, with a heritage and cultural value. Priority has been placed on industrial heritage related to watercourses and canals. In addition to their individual value, the fact these buildings are grouped together according to themes and organised in a network will make it possible to design tours of metropolitan tourist interest, create intermunicipal synergies and have an effect on the municipalities' economic development.
The estimated sum of the investments in this call for proposals is €5.7 million (including VAT), although the final drafts of the corresponding projects still have to be completed.
The project selection procedure involved different steps. Firstly, a municipal participation process was opened, in which local councils submitted their proposals in accordance with the themes and objectives of the Programme. Within these proposals, the municipalities showed that the lands were available and suggested uses they would like to give the buildings or areas that need to be restored.
Given the period for performing the operations to be co-funded by the ERDF, the AMB need to be able to execute, pay and complete the proposed projects by 31 December 2023.
Each local council has undertaken to pay 50% of the cost of the project using municipal funds, whereas the AMB will provide the remaining 50% by including the project in the ERDF Catalonia Operational Programme 2014-2020.
The AMB will take charge of the work and will bear the cost of preparing the final designs, and the project and site management, as well as the administrative and technical management. On its part, the Ministry of the Vice-presidency and of the Economy and Finance of the government of Catalonia will act as an intermediary body in the fund allocation management.
The Managing Committee of the AMB's Programme to promote cultural and industrial heritage, with municipal participation, has selected the projects in accordance with the following criteria established in the guidelines of the calls for proposals:
- Projects with a clear metropolitan interest and high touristic impact
- Provision of value from the perspective of cultural or industrial heritage
- Projects that complete metropolitan actions that are already underway
- Feasibility of the projects at long and mid-term and future uses
- The degree of the project's technical and administrative maturity: priority on actions that already have a study, preliminary design, basic design or layout design, or a construction design or a project underway
Projects selected in the second call for proposals
| Municipality | Project |
| Begues | Visitors' reception centre and adaptation of the accesses to the archaeological site, Cova de Can Sadurní |
| Gavà | Final design of the restoration of the Unió de Cooperadors building |
| Molins de Rei | Project for module C of the building, El Molí |
| Montcada i Reixac | Restoration of the interior features of Casa Larratea. Long and mid-term feasibility of the project and future uses |
| Sant Cugat del Vallès | Engineering project for actions to restore the façades of the west and east walls of Sant Cugat Monastery |
| Sant Cugat del Vallès | asic and final design to restore the eastern roofs of the church of the monastery in Sant Cugat del Vallès |
| Tiana | Repair and restore the Casal de Tiana cultural complex: Sala Albéniz |