Santander will allocate 3 million to 9 projects to support local trade in 2022, of which 1.8 are from European funds

Santander will invest 3 million euros this year in 9 projects to support local businesses, of which 1.86 million come from European subsidies and almost 1.15 from the City Council.

This has been announced by the Councilor for Commerce and Tourism, Miriam Díaz, during the celebration this Wednesday of the Municipal Council of Commerce, in which the actions carried out in support of the sector in 2021 have been taken stock of and the plans for 2022 have been announced. , which will be marked, as he explained, "by the strong investment backed by subsidies from European funds".

In her speech before the Trade Council, chaired by the mayor, Gema Igual, and made up of all the political groups and associations in the sector, the councilor specified that the aid is conditioned by the execution deadlines since the projects must be carried out throughout this year, a period of time - he has acknowledged - "very tight" which, as he has revealed, "is a negative aspect of the call".

Díaz has detailed that Santander has participated in two calls for aid from the Next Generation funds, and has obtained financing for the two lines to which it opted, with the largest amount among all the municipalities of Cantabria,

The councilor considers that these aids represent "an accolade" to the policy that the Santander City Council develops in terms of tourism, and has indicated that they will serve to implement measures to support markets, urban commercial areas, as well as the promotion of aid lines for the strengthening of commercial activity in tourist areas.

Among the projects, he highlighted 'El Mercaderío', whose objective is to provide the city with a digital platform that allows small businesses to market and distribute products to customers from all over Europe, and provide merchants with the necessary resources to open a digital sales channel for your business.

Also in this area, it has placed the creation of an app for evaluating and monitoring commercial activity that allows the analysis of the results of the campaigns launched, as well as the collection and processing of data and users and businesses that allow a better knowledge of the demand.

Other programs for which European funding has been obtained are those dedicated to implementing tourist and commercial signage, and the evaluation of commercial tourist flows in the city, the Consistory reported in a statement.

In addition, the action plans of the City Council will also allow the urban renewal of Mercado, Escalantes, La Paz, Francisco Quevedo and San Francisco streets, as well as the development of commercial promotion and revitalization campaigns, actions to claim the value of local products , the preparation of a guide to good practices for promoting the circular economy, and specific digital English courses for the commercial sector.

On the other hand, the Trade Council has also taken stock of the actions carried out during the past year, aimed above all at promoting digitization and the promotion of local consumption.

Among them are the revitalization campaigns such as 'Here', 'Do you come?', 'Enjoy life', and, especially, the two editions of 'Vale +', which in total have had an investment of 1.8 million and have mobilized sales worth 5.1 in Santander stores.

In addition, emphasis has also been placed on works promoted by the City Council for the revitalization of the city's commercial areas, such as those carried out in San Luis, La Paz, and Francisco de Quevedo streets, as well as the improvement actions in the Mercado de la Esperanza and the projects to reform those of Mexico and Puertochico.

Finally, the measures that the Department of Employment and Business Development has deployed to support the business and commercial sector of the city have been exposed, which in the last three years have added more than 18 million euros in aid and tax credits.