The Ministry of Industry and Tourism has so far granted 742 million euros of European funds to investment projects in Catalonia, as commented by Minister Jordi Hereu during his speech at the Forum "Ara Barcelona avança amb els fons Next Generation EU".

Specifically, Industry has granted Catalonia 282 million euros in the tourism sector to transform the tourism model and make it more digital and sustainable, raising quality without compromising competitiveness.

On the other hand, the Ministry has invested 460 million euros to transform Catalonia's industry through the PERTEs, among which the electric and connected vehicle project stands out, with a total of 267 million euros allocated solely to the province of Barcelona.

Smart Tourist Destinations (STD)

The minister had the opportunity to mention that the aid call named Smart Tourist Destinations, with a budget of 96 million euros, has received a total of 250 digital transformation initiatives. The goal of these grants is to allow all stakeholders to interact with tourists in a digital and smart way and to improve destination management, also addressing the need to improve the relationship between tourists and residents.

This line of aid from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism is included in Component 14 of the Government of Spain's Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, specifically within the framework of the Digital Transformation Plan for Tourist Destinations project, whose objective is to implement actions to promote the digitalization of tourist destinations and tourism businesses.