The Andalusian Regional Government, together with the Macael Town Council and the Andalusian Association of Marble Entrepreneurs (AEMA), will set up a Technical Collaborating Office (OTC) to improve the development, coordination, review and monitoring of the Restoration and Waste Management Plan for the Sierra de Macael. This is the purpose of the agreement signed today, Monday, by the Councillor for Industrial Policy and Energy, Jorge Paradela; the Mayor of Macael, Raúl Martínez Requejo, as holder of the mining rights; and Jesús Posadas, President of AEMA, as mediating entity of the stone activity in Andalusia.
The measure, included in the CRECE Plan for the stone and marble industry, is the result of the collaboration with the City Council of Macael and the marble businessmen who will finance, in three parts, this new service that supposes an investment of 240,000 euros for the next four years.
The Minister, who underlined the «unique and historic» nature of the exploitation model in Macael, stressed that with the signing of this agreement the Andalusian Government «responds to a long-standing aspiration of the sector to have advice close to the quarry workers, offering a window for the exploitations, and will allow monitoring of the good performance of mining activities».
Paradela has valued the example of public-private collaboration that represents the constitution of this technical office, which also «makes it easier for everyone to take on a double challenge: to reduce the environmental footprint and, at the same time, to produce better while consuming fewer resources», he added.
The situation of the exploitations in the Macael Mountains is unique, as the industry is made up of a large number of small quarries exploited independently, although with common services and obligations, according to the councillor, for whom the new office will help in the application and revision of the Restoration and Waste Management Plan for the mining concessions owned by the Macael Town Council.
Thus, among other actions, the technical office, which will be located in the Town Hall of Macael, will provide advice to the quarry workers, support administrative procedures and report on the progress of the corresponding procedures. It will also draw up the annual planning of the work to be carried out and will produce annual reports on the management carried out.
The Minister was accompanied by the Secretary General of Industry and Mines, Cristóbal Sánchez; the Director General of Mines, Jesús Portillo; the territorial delegate of Industrial Policy and Energy, Guillermo Casquet and the Andalusian Member of Parliament, Maribel Sánchez Torregrosa, among other authorities in the Almanzora region.
CRECE Plan for the stone and marble industry
The Junta has been supporting the stone and marble sector in Andalusia, which represents almost half of the marble extraction in Spain. Proof of this is the approval of the CRECE Value Chain Plan for the Stone and Marble Industry of Andalusia, which includes among its measures the implementation of the Collaborating Technical Office whose agreement has been signed today.
In the so-called Region of Marble, made up of 14 municipalities: Macael, Olula del Rio, Fines, Cantoria, Líjar and Purchena, together with Albanchez, Albox, Arboleas, Chercos, Cóbdar, Laroya, Lubrín and Zurgena, there are 216 companies dedicated to the natural stone sector, which represents 73% of the province of Almería, and almost a quarter of Andalusia. Of these 216 companies, 81% are dedicated to the stone cutting, carving and finishing industry and the remaining 19% to the extraction of stone, sand and clay, according to data from the Directory of Establishments with Economic Activity in Andalusia of the IECA in 2021.
This industrial plan has been agreed with economic agents such as the Andalusian Confederation of Businessmen (CEA) and the Chamber of Commerce of Almeria, and the trade union organisations UGT and CCOO of Andalusia, and has been designed in collaboration with the main associations and entities of the sector such as AEMA, Cominroc, as well as the City Council of Macael and the University of Almeria. It envisages the development of 45 measures and has a public allocation of 15 million euros from ERDF funds and the Just Transition Fund, an amount that aims to mobilise investments amounting to 63 million euros.
Among the most important actions included in the plan are the promotion of a network of collaborating entities for quality marks, the promotion of sectoral agreements between companies and the most representative trade union organisations, the promotion of innovative investments in terms of quality and health in the workplace, as well as incentives to promote the renewal of machinery and facilities.
These actions, according to the Minister, are aimed at helping the industry to face challenges such as the ecological and digital transition of the sector, the retention and attraction of talent, a greater connection between knowledge and training centres and the sector, the reinforcement and modernisation of production structures, and the strengthening of its commercial and international expansion.
On the other hand, Jorge Paradela recalled that his department has urged the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism to include the stone and marble sector in the PERTE for Decarbonisation, as it is an industry that has to face the challenge of energy transition, but has no place in any other PERTE (strategic projects for economic recovery and transformation).
The Minister has specified that, although he has not yet received a positive response from the central Government, the Regional Government will insist that the decarbonisation of the economy has to start with the extraction of raw materials, especially taking into account its essential role in the path towards a new energy model.