EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez give a speech in Alcobendas, outskirts of Madrid on June 16, 2021.Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press
The European Commission approved on Wednesday Spain’s plan for recovery after the pandemic and transformation into a greener and more digitalised economy, the second such approval in the 27-nation bloc after Portugal.
Under the scheme, Spain will get 69.5 billion euros in grants until 2026. Madrid will already get the first 9 billion euros in pre-financing for the scheme once EU finance ministers also sign off on the plan in July.
The Commission said in a statement that Spain’s plan devoted 40% of its total to fight climate change like the promotion of urban and long-distance sustainable transport, better energy efficiency of buildings, decarbonisation of industry and new technologies for green hydrogen and renewables.
Another 28% of the money would go to the digitalise public administration, industry and business and investments in digital equipment for education and improving digital skills.
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