The Mancomunitat del Pla grouping of fourteen municipalities in the Mallorca Pla (Plain) region is to receive 2,994,000 euros for tourism promotion.
This is money from EU Next Generation funds that is being distributed by the national ministry of tourism. Grants are for sustainable tourism destination plans. The specific route for applying for the funding was through the Council of Mallorca, the mayor of Montuiri, Joan Verger, saying that the three million euros hadn't been expected.
But the funding will be forthcoming for what is described as an ambitious project based on four key principles - green transition, energy efficiency, digitalisation and competitiveness.
Joana Maria Pascual from Ariany town hall, who is the president of the mancomunitat (commonwealth), stresses that the funding "is a very important incentive". "We opted for European aid via the Council of Mallorca and with an ambitious project. We are municipalities with a common denominator, and I believe that we can develop this plan to address seasonality in a way that one municipality alone could not achieve. We have the Matarraña region in Aragon as something of a reference point."
Joan Cifre, the manager of the mancomunitat (which is headquartered in Montuiri), offers a different reference point. "This investment could mean a turning point for the region. We believe that we can get visitors to come to the Pla and not to a specific municipality. We could be a Mallorcan Tuscany."