The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted the Andalusia Region a EUR 200 million loan to finance the high speed rail section between Seville and Antequera forming part of Andalusia’s crossrail project. The Head of the EIB’s Department for Operations in Spain and Portugal, Carlos Guille, and the Andalusia Region’s Finance Minister, Carmen Martínez Aguayo, signed the finance contract for this operation in Seville this morning.
The Finance Minister stressed that the EIB was the Andalusia Region’s main lender, recalling that it had arranged its first loan to Andalusia as far back as 1983, before Spain had even joined the EU, in what was its first operation with a Spanish regional authority.
The EIB Head of Department underlined “the role played by the EIB in financing Andalusia’s network of transport infrastructure, including important projects such as the Madrid-Seville and Córdoba-Málaga high speed train lines, Málaga airport and the ports of Seville and Algeciras. In cooperation with the Region – he added – the Bank has also financed projects in sectors such as education, the environment, urban transport and urban regeneration, vastly improving the quality of life of Andalusia’s inhabitants and visitors”.
The project financed consists of the construction of a 128.4 km-long high speed train line between Sevilla and Antequera (Málaga). This is a key link that will form part of the rail network connecting Andalusia’s main cities: Seville, Málaga, Córdoba, Granada and Almería. The project includes an interchange station directly connected to Seville airport and stations at Marchena, Osuna and Pedrera. The new line will join the Córdoba-Málaga high speed train line at Antequera/Santa Ana station.
Since 1983, the Bank has financed 95 projects in Andalusia to the tune of EUR 7 725 million, 53% of which has gone to transport infrastructure. Among the Spanish Regions, Andalusia is the third biggest recipient of EIB funds after Catalonia and Madrid, including for projects promoted by the central government, such as the Madrid-Seville and Córdoba-Málaga high speed train lines, and by private companies – with investment in renewable energy projects standing out as recent examples.
The EIB is the EU’s long-term financing institution promoting European objectives. Founded in 1957, it operates in the 27 EU Member States and over 130 other countries worldwide. EIB financing operations are mounted in the framework of well-defined EU policies.