Catalonia has captured 19.3% of the Next Generation European aid that the central Administration has summoned in competitive competition. This percentage does not include companies or entities that do not have their headquarters in the community, such as those that took their homes in 2017, some 4,000.
The general director of European funds of the Generalitat, Aleix Cuells, has given as an example that if Cellnex obtains resources from the Next Generation, these are not counted as passed on to companies or entities in Catalonia. Neither are those of CaixaBank, Sabadell, Abertis or Catalana Occidente.
Regarding the direct allocation by the State to the autonomies, the Catalan community received 15.4% of the total since the criterion used by the Government was that of the population. Just over 16% of Spaniards reside in Catalonia.
During the press conference to present the aid, the Minister of Economy, Natàlia Mas, warned of some problems in the deployment of the aid. She also warned that the Cerdanyola del Vallès chip plant project, together with the Sincotrón, is at risk due to the electoral cycle. The project is pending the Government to grant the corresponding aid.
On this matter, the secretary of Economic Affairs, Miquel Puig, added that “the call for elections plays against us and now, at this moment, work must continue on this project, which is strategic for Spain and Catalonia”.
According to data from the Government itself, the Generalitat has mobilized 1,985 million euros of Next Generation funds. It is 70% of the resources received.
The global impact of the funds -counting the resources managed by the Generalitat but also by the central government- rises to 5652 million. For now the beneficiaries exceed 34,000 between companies and individuals.
