Maresme EuroVelo 8 is a project managed by the Regional Council that, taking advantage of the Maresme route of the European network of EuroVelo cycling routes, will improve the tourism sustainability of the region by promoting cycle tourism (green, sports and nature tourism) as alternative offer in sun and beach.
The project, included in the extraordinary call 2023 of the Tourism Sustainability Plan in Destinations of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, has a subsidy of 3,090,631 euros within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Next Generation EU European funds. and includes generic actions that will benefit the entire region and other specific ones that will be carried out in the municipalities that have shown interest.
After the consultation carried out with the group of mayors of the Maresme and to study the suitability of the proposals, the Maresme EuroVelo 8 begins to move with the incorporation of the concrete actions that will be carried out in 15 municipalities: Alella, Arenys de Mar, Arenys de Munt, Caldes d'Estrac, Calella, Malgrat de Mar, El Masnou, Mataró, Montgat, Palafolls, Pineda de Mar, Premià de Dalt, Santa Susanna, Tiana and Vilassar de Mar.
The actions, which will have to be completed before March 31, 2026, follow the premises of using the European coastal cycling itinerary initiative EuroVelo-8 as an attraction, providing a “tourist layer” to the itinerary (signage, adaptation, digital dissemination, etc.) and the interconnections with the network of cycling trails that open the experience in the country.
Along the same lines, tools will be provided to sustainably manage the natural spaces of the region (forests, trails, streams, and also beaches), and the recreational and tourist pressure that cycling activity will impose on them: management, maintenance and signage. tourist trail network; integrated stream management and example of naturalization of a section; model naturalization of a beach; understory management; observatory of ETIS indicators (eco meters, accessibility, etc.)
On the other hand, municipalities (inland and coastal) will be provided with means and services to convert the region's natural resource into a cycle tourism product: repair of roads, signage, rest areas, secure parking, charging points, cyclovoltaic pergolas, photovoltaic floors, and cycling infrastructure in general.
Likewise, the region's tourism products will be digitally promoted, especially cycle tourism, with a website with all the Maresme tourism offers; a reservation center for all tourist products in the region; and with inbound marketing of the experiences of cycle tourists in the Maresme. In addition, the competitiveness of companies in the region related to aid for the digital transition of related tourism companies will be promoted (call for subsidies), and the improvement of the infrastructure of the Poma Bike Park (Premià de Dalt).
The Maresme EuroVelo 8 project is structured around 4 axes: green and sustainable transition, improvement of energy efficiency, digital transition and competitiveness. The first, endowed with 675,181 euros, incorporates actions in the natural elements that outline the identity of Maresme: streams, beaches, forests and trails. The actions that will be carried out in the trail network will benefit all the municipalities of the region, as will those incorporated in the integrated management of streams and in the actions in the forest. However, El Masnou has shown its interest in incorporating a specific action to naturalize streams. Regarding the beaches, their naturalization and the creation of islands of freshness are contemplated. In this section, Vilassar de Mar has been interested in carrying out the two actions and Malgrat de Mar in the creation of an island of freshness in the municipality.
The energy efficiency improvement axis, with a budget allocation of 1,606,800 euros, contemplates interconnection actions of the Maresme EuroVelo 8 section in the municipalities of Arenys de Munt, Caldes d'Estrac, Calella, Malgrat de Mar, Montgat, Pineda de Mar, Palafolls and Santa Susanna. It also includes the installation of cyclovoltaic pergolas on the sides of the cycling axis as it passes through Alella, Arenys de Mar, Caldes d'Estrac, Calella, El Masnou, Montgat, Palafolls and Vilassar de Mar; and contemplates the creation of cycling infrastructure for e-bikes and bicycles (recharge points, repair and cleaning of bicycles) in the municipalities of Arenys de Mar, Arenys de Munt, Caldes d'Estrac, Calella, Malgrat de Mar, Montgat, Pineda of Sea, Santa Susanna and Tiana. In addition, there will be secure bicycle parking in the municipalities of Arenys de Mar, Arenys de Munt, Caldes d'Estrac, Calella, El Masnou, Malgrat de Mar, Pinar de Mar, Santa Susanna, Tiana and Vilassar de Mar.
The digital transition axis has a budget of 473,650 euros and includes marketing, digitalization and monitoring actions that will allow both the promotion of sustainable tourism in the region and online access for users to different services such as, for example, tourist flows. or electrical load capacities in real time.
The budget for actions aimed at improving the competitiveness of Maresme has a budget of 335,000 euros. In addition to the creation of a technical Secretariat to ensure the efficiency of the projects, actions in the Poma Bike Park in Premià de Dalt and the improvement of the tourist infrastructure and accessibility of the Paseo Marítimo de Mataró as part of a set of interventions that allow to improve the creation of new tourist services and especially those related to cycle tourism.
