\ The councillor Fina Santiago and the president of the CSD, José Manuel Franco, have visited the centre, which will see its energy efficiency improved thanks to this investment.
\ The Balearic Islands will receive a total of 9.3 million euros in European funds, which, among other objectives, will also improve the sports facilities of councils, town councils, and the Velodrome.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The councillor for Social Affairs and Sport, Fina Santiago, took part this morning in a meeting with the Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta, the President of the Balearic Islands Government, Francina Armengol, and the councillor for European Funds, University and Culture, Miquel Company. Santiago explained to the minister the investment and objectives of the European funds for sport in the Balearic Islands.

Afterwards, together with the president of the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), José Manuel Franco, they visited the Centro de Tecnificación Deportiva de las Islas Baleares (CTEIB), which will benefit from this aid with a total of 3.5 million euros. They also took the opportunity to get to know the technification programmes and to greet the athletes.

“Balearic sport is a collective effort, by the clubs, the federations and also the administrations. If we want a society with values and a healthy society, we have to invest in sports. From 2015 until now, the budgets have reflected this commitment to sport by the administration very well,” said the councillor.

Sports Technification Centre of the Balearic Islands

Santiago stressed the importance of European funds including projects for sport. “Sport, as well as health and physical activity, is also an economy, it is a way of changing the image of tourism (in our case, for more sustainable and responsible tourism) and it is also a professional opportunity that we have to promote. We had a project to improve the facilities and with the arrival of these European funds, the equipment has been speeded up and we have reduced the time. We are not only focusing on our own facilities but there are also funds to improve the competencies of councils and town councils. All with a transversal line, which is the improvement of facilities in terms of sustainability”.

José Manuel Franco, president of the CSD, has referred to the CTEIB in this way: “I had heard that they were working very well and today I have verified it. We should be proud of these facilities and, above all, of the management that is being carried out. This is exemplary and, although it may seem difficult, it will get even better. The Balearic Islands will have almost 10% of the Recovery and Resilience funds already transferred to the autonomous communities, which will mean more than 9 million euros, which will benefit sport on the islands. But, in the end, this is a win-win situation: they have carried out some magnificent projects. They have other extraordinary ones underway”. Franco also stated that “the Balearic Islands is one of the spearheads of sport in Spain. It is a benchmark in Spanish sport, it has always been, but with the commitment of all the institutions it is even more so”.

The Balearic Islands are the autonomous community that receives the most money from European funds for energy efficiency projects in sports training centres. The objective criteria applied in the distribution of the funds are a recognition of the important role played by technical and high-performance sports in our autonomous community. Thus, the number of centres, regional and national technification programmes and the number of sports technification athletes have been taken into account.

The main building of the CTEIB and the assembly hall will undergo a complete refurbishment; the office and office spaces will be redistributed; a new cafeteria and restaurant area will be built, and a biomass boiler will be installed to replace the natural gas ones. In addition, the installations of new technologies such as public address and telephone systems, fibre optics and a new communication system for the deaf will be modernised.

In parallel to these actions carried out with European funds, the new classroom of the CTEIB is being built with the Govern’s own funds (4.2 million euros) in order to make it easier for the athletes of the technification programmes to combine sporting activity with academic training and to do so with the appropriate ratios and adequate facilities and spaces.

With the contributions of European funds from the CSD, the Regional Ministry has taken the opportunity to launch a call for aid for equipment for local entities (councils and town councils) that have recognised sports technification, in which recognised sports technification programmes are developed or which provide supra-municipal services. In this case, 3.9 million euros are earmarked for the installation of less polluting energies, the renovation of equipment with better energy efficiency, digitalisation and improved accessibility.

A third line of the call for sports facilities affects the Illes Balears Velodrome, where an investment of one million euros is planned for the conversion of the current lighting for LED lighting in the work areas and also in the track, the dome lights and the sports area. The aim is to achieve 30% energy savings and improve the quality of light.

European funds for sport in the Balearic Islands
In addition to these lines of European funds to modernise the facilities and make them more energy efficient (with a budget of 8.4 million euros), there are two more items from European funds. They correspond to the Plan for Sport and Equality, with 566,000 euros distributed in different lines (sport and women and adapted sport), and the Plan for the Prescription of Physical Exercise in the Balearic Islands, with 308,518 euros.

Therefore, between 2021 and 2025 the Balearic Islands will be able to carry out projects in the field of sport for a total value of 9.3 million euros of European funds.

EUROPEAN FUNDS SPORTS IN THE BALEARIC ISLANDS

Modernisation of sports facilities

8.4 million euros

• Technification Centre of the Balearic Islands

3.5 million euros

• Illes Balears Velòdrom

1 million euros

• Local sports facilities (town councils and councils)

3.9 million euros

Sports and Equality Plan

566,000 euros

Plan for Physical Exercise Prescription in the Balearic Islands

308,518 euros

9.3 million euros