The Government will not renew this season the subsidy line, with an amount of 1.2 million euros, which it had been granting since 2020 to the only three private ski resorts in Catalonia (Baqueira-Beret, Masella and Port del Comte) in concept of aid to alleviate the losses caused by the pandemic in the snow business.
That economic item will remain, however, in the Pyrenees. The Generalitat plans to allocate this money, as the newspaper Ara has announced, to the construction of social housing in mountain regions.
With this closure of the aid tap for private resorts, it is understood that these resorts have already overcome the losses caused by the coronavirus health crisis, which limited road travel for months (in the middle of the ski season) and forced in March 2020 to the early closure of these complexes.
The stations affected by the cut have learned of the Government's decision when they have already made their investments for the 2023-2024 season. So they had that money, "which these three years has helped us improve our facilities and cover part of the losses caused by the coronavirus," says Xavi Ubeira, commercial director of the Val d'Aran station, Baqueira. Beret.
There have been three consecutive aid campaigns, with a total, when adding other items, of 4.2 million euros. Most of this public money in these private businesses has been allocated to rehabilitation and improvement of facilities, technological innovations and measures aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the snow business.
A little more than 30% of that money (around 1.3 million) has been allocated to the production of artificial snow, key at this time to guarantee the operation of these complexes and ensure the economic benefits that these stations leave in their territories. .
The 1.2 million euros that Baqueira-Beret, Masella and Port del Comte will stop collecting this season are already destined. They will be invested to increase the number of social housing in these mountains (very scarce in the Pyrenees) with projects to build or enable 91 apartments in Camprodon, La Pobla de Segur and Sort.
This item has been added to the budget of 5.1 million euros of an initiative managed by the Institut Català del Sòl, which plans to reach, by the year 2042, 2,693 homes destined for social policy in mountain regions.
The Generalitat, manager of the rest of the Catalan ski resorts (La Molina, Espot, Port Ainé, Vallter 2000, Vall de Núria and Boí Taüll), has invested around 10 million de euros in those complexes. 25% more than the previous year.
An investment that the Government defends due to the benefits that the snow business generates in the territories where these stations are located. In the 2022-2023 campaign, 322 million were earned, compared to an expense of just over 148 million.
