EIB financing for Education and water improvement in the Region of Valencia

The European Investment Bank is providing EUR 303 million to support investment in education and water improvement in the Region of Valencia. EIB Vice-President Carlos Da Silva Costa signed a first loan contract of EUR 250 million to upgrade primary, secondary and vocational educational facilities in the Region of Valencia. The facilities form part of the Crea Escola programme comprising the planning, new building, rehabilitation and extension, as well as the provision of furniture and equipment, of educational infrastructures spread throughout the region, which took responsibility for education from the Spanish State in 1990. A second loan of EUR 53 million will contribute to the construction and upgrading of wastewater treatment infrastructure. The project comprises 59 investment schemes to expand and improve wastewater treatment capacity, including two new wastewater treatment plants. Water sector investment will reduce pollution through the improvement of the quality of the effluent that is discharged into the sensitive areas, and will make more efficient use of natural resources in a region with water scarcity. The investments include the extension and improvement of the wastewater collection network and of the treatment capacity, as well as the expansion and upgrading of wastewater treatment plants. The schemes are located throughout Valencia, whose economic development is clearly linked to the availability of scarce water resources, and to the environmental conservation of the coastal waters. The schemes are expected to be completed by the end of 2009.