Bringing Brussels closer to Sant Hipòlit de Voltregà

BarcelonaSant Hipòlit de Voltregà has 3,500 inhabitants and covers just one square kilometer. This village, one of the smallest in Catalonia, has its sights set on several European funding opportunities that could give the municipality a boost, for example, to renovate the hockey team's pavilion—which has brought it international fame—or the municipal residence. But there's a problem: the paperwork required to apply for these lucrative grants is insurmountable for a town council with only one technician available. "We would love to apply, but out of prudence, we don't. If you don't carry out the project, you have to pay the money back," explains Gerard Sancho, the mayor of Sant Hipòlit, to ARA. Because of cases like this, the Catalan government will launch a specialized team to assist local entities in drafting and submitting projects to secure European funding. This unit is part of a series of measures announced this Sunday by the Minister for European Union and Foreign Action, Jaume Duch. Its objective is to bring Europe closer to Catalan municipalities – especially those with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants – and includes establishing avenues for collaboration to organize events explaining the European project, arranging visits to European institutions, and promoting twinning with municipalities in EU member states. The increased resources for drafting European projects should make life easier for mayors of small municipalities, who are already struggling to manage day-to-day affairs. with interim officials and technicians which they often have to share with other local councils. Facilitating access to European funds also helps prevent the gap "between rural and urban areas" from widening, Sancho emphasizes, adding that he conveyed this to the regional minister when he visited him. Now the regional government has taken note and plans to have five technicians working exclusively for the municipalities within three years.

The gap is also evident between medium-sized and large municipalities, as demonstrated in the Baix Llobregat region. The only municipalities that have secured European funding are those with more than 60,000 inhabitants, such as Sant Boi and Cornellà. Esparreguera, Olesa, and Sant Andreu de la Barca have been left out. And it's not for lack of desire or capacity. "It's basically a bureaucratic issue," adds the mayor of Esparreguera, Juan Jurado. Esparreguera already missed the opportunity to participate in a call for proposals to remodel the old N-2 highway, something it hopes to resume with the help of the new team of technicians from the Generalitat (Catalan government). "We had to withdraw because the bidding process failed to attract any offers," explains Jurado, who also calls for a review of all the documentation required for many municipal procedures. As an example, he explains that the City Council often has to hire specialists to draft European projects, in addition to the technical staff, such as architects, who are responsible for the specific requirements of European calls for proposals. Esparreguera also has a project for the Sedó colony, a historical jewel of the municipality's textile industry.