Major investment in skiing in the Huesca Pyrenees approved with first 75 million Euros

Jorge Azcón has presented in Panticosa the Pyrenees Plan

The first phase of the Pyrenees Plan contemplates an investment of 75 million euros and will begin to be implemented in 2024.

The president of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, has presented this Monday in Panticosa (Huesca) the main lines of the Pyrenees Plan, a project to socially and economically revitalize the valleys of the four northernmost regions of Aragon. The first phase contemplates an investment of 75 million euros and will begin to be executed in 2024.

The head of the regional Executive, who was accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, and the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Manuel Blasco, explained the initiative to the President of the Provincial Council of Huesca, Isaac Claver, and to the mayors of the area.

The total project will amount to 250 million, will be spread over the next eight years and will be completed with the investment participation of the State.

The Pyrenees Plan will develop different projects of different sizes. Four of them, one per valley, are considered "singular". Jorge Azcón explained that:

"Today is undoubtedly a day of good news for the Aragonese Pyrenees for two fundamental reasons.

One, that the works pending execution co-financed with European funds in the framework of the Extraordinary Plans of Tourist Sustainability are going to be carried out thanks to the negotiations carried out in recent weeks between the Government of Aragon and the Ministry of Tourism.

These works are very necessary for our ski resorts and are going to be carried out thanks to the reallocation of European funds that were going to finance the Canal Roya connection and the Castanesa road".

"The second reason is that, together with the execution of these European funds, plus the contribution of our own budget items, the Pyrenees Plan is no longer a project but a reality that begins with the next approval of the 2024 regional budget".

Thanks to the reallocation of these European funds, Azcón explained that it will be possible to guarantee the execution of some 53.5 million euros in projects as necessary as the Benasque cable car, the connection of Astún and Candanchú or the implementation of projects to boost tourism in the Pyrenean valleys.

Jorge Azcón has travelled to Panticosa to explain the Pyrenees Plan.

Castanesa

In addition, as Azcón explained, in the 2024 budget there will be two outstanding items with their own funds for the Pyrenees Plan.

One of them amounts to two million to start the Castanesa road, which will add another 16 million to complete the work in future budget years. And another of 4.2 million euros to build the long-awaited mountain toboggan run in Panticosa.

In total, around 75 million euros to launch the first snow and tourism actions of the Pyrenees Plan. A Plan that will have more investments in Health, Agriculture, Education or Communications.

"This global impact is, in short, the ultimate objective of the Pyrenees Plan. It is about turning the Pyrenees into the driving force for the development of the province of Huesca and the whole Autonomous Community".

Jorge Azcón has walked around Panticosa, where the mountain slide will be built.

Environment

For the President of the Government of Aragon, this plan contemplates an integral impulse to cover all ski areas, an impulse that respects the environment and that seeks an efficient management of resources.

"Tourism will be one of the main axes, not only the snow ski area, but also mountain leisure, sports or nature tourism".

But the Pyrenees Plan, according to Azcón added, is much more ambitious and the actions to be implemented over the next eight years are also aimed at agriculture and livestock, cultural heritage, education, health and social services.

"It is necessary to fix the population and attract new people who are offered the possibility of developing in these regions and in these valleys their vital project, because the development of the Pyrenees is the development of all Aragon".

The auditorium of Panticosa at the meeting with Jorge Azcón.

Main projects related to skiing

Access to Cerler through Montanuy

One of the main projects is the access to Cerler by Castenesa through the Montanuy road. For the Government of Aragón, it is a priority for the Benasque ski resort to have a double entrance, one of them from the municipality of Montanuy through the N-230 road.

The Government of Aragón, through its own funds, will execute the project by means of a multi-annual agreement which will reach 18 million Euros and which has 2 million Euros in this first fiscal year. In this way, both the need for a second entrance to the municipality of Cerler will be solved and the dynamization of the area and the 17 urban centers that make up Montanuy will be reinforced and, therefore, the deseasonalization of tourism in the area will be strengthened.

Cable car Benasque to Cerler

Regarding the cable car connection between Benasque and Cerler, the increase in the number of skiers, the increase in population of both Cerler and Benasque, the larger size of the current vehicles and theThe increase in the number of skiers, the increase in the population of both Cerler and Benasque, the larger size of the current vehicles and the constructive conditions of the road, make the transit on days of great affluence and coinciding with adverse climatology difficult and even dangerous.

A cable transport system for people, in this case a gondola lift, will serve, according to the regional executive, to link Benasque with the Cerler ski resort, thus reducing road traffic and, in addition, increasing its tourist value in non-winter seasons.

To the 16 million Euros of the work budget, it is foreseen the need to add an additional 1.5 million Euros derived from the need to build a screen wall on the site, as stated in a recent report issued by the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro (CHE). This amount will also be assumed by the Government of Aragon.

Astún-Candanchú Union

The Astún-Candanchú gondola lift project already had 11 million (8 million from European funds and 3 million from the Huesca Provincial Council), plus 2 million from the redistribution of funds granted to the Montanuy Town Council. To these, another 13 million euros of own funds will be added in the 2025 budget to complete the total budget of 26 million euros for the work.

The connection will be made by means of two lifts, only for transport to another point (without ski area) and in both directions. Specifically, a 10-people gondola lift from Candanchú to the return station of the Pastores chairlift in Astún (and vice versa) and a 4-people fixed gripper chairlift that will connect Candanchú and the gondola lift motor station, although it could be replaced by a covered conveyor belt.

Panticosa toboggan run

The Panticosa mountain toboggan run is the first of the four unique projects included in the Pyrenees Plan. It will allow, on the one hand, to give an important boost to the valley through the de-seasonalization of the usual tourist activity of the place, currently very focused on the practice of winter sports.

In addition, it will be an addition to the existing sports infrastructure in the area, since it can also be used during the winter and with snow. It works through gravity, taking advantage of the natural slopes of the mountain and the highest part will be reached through one of the existing ski lifts.

It consists of different vehicles that descend guided and secured on a system of rails, in the case of the Panticosa project, a monorail system, whose layout depends on the terrain. The user can control the speed of descent at all times by means of a brake on the vehicle, adjusting it to his or her liking.

Among the main features of the system are its safety, easy adaptation to the terrain and subsequent modification to add new sections of the route if the terrain permits, simple assembly or disassembly, and low maintenance costs.

Likewise, the project does not require energy expenditure thanks to its gravity operation, does not produce waste and its noise level is minimal, just as it is suitable for all ages and compatible with other activities.

The first phase of the Pyrenees Plan has a budget of 75 million euros.