To amplify Barcelona's urban regeneration capacity and its adaptation to climate change. This is the purpose of the 175 million euro loan signed by the City Council with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will focus on urban development and climate-related strategies, with sustainability and inclusion as the ultimate goal.
Thus, the loan will allow financing key projects for Barcelona, such as the regeneration of urban areas, the creation of green spaces, the adoption of flood protection measures, and the improvement of sustainable mobility infrastructures, as explained by the mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the president of the EIB, Nadia Calviño, after a meeting in Luxembourg.
The City Council also sets as a priority the improvement of public buildings and facilities, such as schools, municipal markets, and sports facilities. Collboni recalled that Barcelona has initiatives underway such as the Climate Plan to adapt schools to climate change, and stressed that the agreement with the EIB will allow them to be developed.
"This framework agreement will allow us to continue developing projects that improve people's lives and the competitiveness of companies," Calviño agreed to highlight. The former Spanish vice-president emphasized the "complicity" of the bank she presides with the Catalan capital.
In addition, the loan also prioritizes social integration and inclusion, paying special attention to the needs of women and improving their access to urban infrastructure and services.
Collboni and Calviño announced the agreement within the framework of the EIB Forum that the EIB Group holds in Luxembourg. During the meeting, Calviño announced a plan to double EIB investments in support of the housing sector to 6 billion euros annually. For his part, Collboni defended in a debate with representatives of other European cities the commitment to market intervention in favor of ensuring the right to housing, and his decision to eliminate tourist flats by 2028.