The sub-delegate of the Government in Almería, José María Martín Fernández, has highlighted «the Government’s commitment to economic and inter-territorial balance through the granting of incentives for productive investment projects that generate employment» during an institutional visit to the company Cosentino. Precisely, the company, based in Cantoria, has received a grant of 29,196,929 euros as part of the granting of regional incentives under the Next Generation Funds. The regional incentives are the financial aid granted by the General State Administration to productive investment to promote business activity, with the aim of alleviating inter-territorial imbalances.
Martín, who made the visit accompanied by Álvaro de la Haza, executive vice-president of the company, and Santiago Alfonso, vice-president of Communication and Corporate Reputation of Cosentino, stressed at the end that «these aids contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic growth» because they finance projects that generate employment, are technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable.
In this regard, the sub-delegate pointed out that the grant approved for Cosentino is included in the company’s investment, which plans to generate 136 new jobs. «Regional incentives contribute to closing the gap in terms of per capita income with the rest of the regions, not only in Spain but also in the EU,» he said. Juan Antonio Lorenzo, the Andalusian Regional Government’s national deputy, also took part in the visit.
The sub-delegate toured the main facilities at Cosentino’s headquarters, which employs more than 6,000 people, 98% of whom are on permanent contracts. In addition, in the company’s industrial park in Cantoria, 37 million euros were invested in environmental and health and safety assets in 2022, 13 million euros in environmental control and improvement and a total of 27 million euros in investment in industrial assets and R+D.
Over the last three years, the Spanish Government has also awarded more than €9m in aid in the form of loans and non-refundable funds for the implementation of new processes for the recovery and reintroduction of waste, for data processing and the promotion of industrial digitalisation, and for new manufacturing processes for its Dekton product line for the sustainable development of industrial manufacturing activity.