The European Investment Bank has granted the Castilla-La Mancha region two loans of EUR 50 million each for financing i) the construction of educational, cultural and health facilities; ii) forest protection and rehabilitation schemes.

The finance contracts were signed today in Toledo by EIB Vice-President Magdalena Álvarez Arza, and the Vice-President and Finance Minister of the Regional Government, Maria Luisa Araujo.

At the ceremony the EIB Vice-President underlined “the EIB’s firm commitment to assisting the economic and social development of Europe’s regions by making large-scale investment in social facilities and environmental protection programmes”.

She went on to say that “these two loans constitute an important means of fostering quality economic growth based on the sustainable use of resources and strong support for the knowledge economy ¬– not forgetting the investment to upgrade the Don Quixote route, a major source of wealth for the whole region”.
 
The first EUR 50 million loan is designed to improve the region’s infrastructure. The EIB will be financing 175 schemes in the framework of different sectoral investment programmes spread across the region’s five provinces.

The project targets three areas: education, culture and health. The investment in educational facilities comprises the construction and refurbishment or expansion of nurseries, schools and student accommodation; the cultural component includes the building of municipal theatres and other cultural facilities, upgrading of the Don Quixote route and construction of the Don Quixote cultural centre (CREA) in Toledo; lastly, the health schemes are designed to improve people’s access to basic healthcare and expand care services for the elderly.

The second loan, also worth EUR 50 million, will be used to finance investment in i) Castilla-La Mancha’s regional forest fire prevention and extinction campaigns; ii) the rehabilitation and reforestation of the part of El Rodenal forest in Guadalajara province destroyed by fire; iii) the construction of interpretative centres to raise public awareness of the value of the region’s forests and natural parks; and iv) the afforestation of agricultural land.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term financing arm of the European Union (EU), working to further European objectives. Established in 1958, it operates in the 27 EU Member States and more than 130 other countries worldwide. The Bank's financing is geared to well-defined European policies. Financing investment in human capital formation, education, culture, health and environmental protection is high on the list of EIB priorities.