CARTAGENA (MURCIA), 10 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Association of Municipalities of Campo de Cartagena and Mar Menor will work on their first joint European project and has begun to study the creation of a designation of origin for products from the countryside, livestock, and the sea. This was explained on Wednesday by the mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, after the first meeting of the new entity, held at the City Hall with the participation of the seven municipalities in the region, as reported by municipal sources in a press release.
The mayor detailed that the session served to sign the founding act of the association, approve its legal constitution, and review the main issues that the mayors had been preparing in recent months. Among them, the launch of a technical committee made up of civil servants from the various municipalities, aimed at designing joint programs to apply for state and European funding calls.
The first of these programs will be a bioeconomy project focused on the recovery of carob cultivation, with an estimated budget of 1.7 million euros and a duration of three years. The mayor explained that the objective of the proposal that will be presented to the Biodiversity Foundation is «to generate employment and economic activity around a traditional crop whose commercial value has grown significantly due to its applications in sectors such as food, cosmetics, and pharmacy». The project follows a similar scheme to Espartaria, which promotes crops and economy based on esparto.
D.O CAMPO DE CARTAGENA-MAR MENOR
During the meeting, the proposal put forward by Euro-Toques, the association of professional chefs, to create a designation of origin ‘Campo de Cartagena – Mar Menor’ was also addressed. The mayor announced that a working group will be set up to analyze the technical and legal requirements that would allow progress in this recognition.
The mayors unanimously decided to address the regional government and political groups in the Assembly to study the necessary legal measures for the Autonomous Community to assume responsibilities in coastal matters to streamline the management of beach uses, where significant difficulties are being encountered, as is the case with beach bars.
In addition, the development of a regional program for the European Mobility Week, scheduled for September, has been proposed, and the draft agreement between the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Transport for the development of the Commuter Train project (formerly FEVE) in the area has been supported.
