The mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, during the presentation
Miquel Iceta, Pere Granados and Montserrat Domènch
Salou. Costa Dorada. 19 January 2023. The Minister of Culture and Sport of the Spanish Government, Miquel Iceta, has endorsed the commitment of the Salou City Council to turn the capital of the Costa Dorada into a leading sports destination. The minister attended the event organized in Madrid by the Salou town hall, within the framework of Fitur, to present its sports calendar for 2023, with 19 competitions and sports activities in different disciplines.
Iceta has highlighted the work of Salou, in terms of a smart city and sports destination, since, he has pointed out, "the sun and the beach are very important, since summer is a magnificent season, but we have beyond the sun and beach, and we have four seasons a year". He recalled that "from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, we have approved the new Sports Law" and he assured that "Spain is the only country that has used the Recovery Plan, Transformation and Resilience to support sport, with more than 300 million euros".
Likewise, the minister has indicated that "in 2021, more than 3.1 million trips, both internal and foreign, were mainly motivated by sport, which have meant a year-on-year increase of 24% in national tourism, and 43.6% of the international, and have accounted for 1,379 million euros".
Finally, he has shown his admiration and respect for the work of Salou and the whole of Catalonia, since, he has said, "we are marking a path that many other cities and communities are also following"; and he has encouraged them to "continue this progression and this progress", and that "we can celebrate an increase in prosperity and quality of life for a long time both in Salou, in Catalonia, and in all of Spain".
For his part, the mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, has recalled the certifications and distinctions granted by the Generalitat de Catalunya to Salou in the field of Sports, and has announced that "we are also beginning to work on tennis and paddle tennis", so "We open up new segments and opportunities for our visitors, consolidating a tourism product with a wide range of possibilities for those whose main travel motivation is sport, well-being and health."
He has also made reference to Salou's coastal heritage, with 25 beaches and coves and more than 9 km of coastline, which "awakens us and suggests a world of sensations and experiences that accompany outdoor sports practice".
Granados also spoke about the offer of top-level facilities in the municipality and pointed out that the main objective of Salou's strategic commitment to sports tourism is "to seasonally adjust our tourist activity, diversifying the offer", in order to achieve, consequently, " greater job stability and greater social and economic sustainability”.
The General Director of Tourism of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Marta Domènech, explained that "during 2023 we will implement a Sports Tourism Plan, with a strategy aimed at increasing the positioning and competitiveness of the destination". In this sense, she has said that "it is tourism aligned with the model we want for Catalonia and that we are working through the National Commitment for responsible tourism". “We will agree on how to advance in this transition to achieve better territories to live, which, only in this way, can be better destinations to be visited; and, precisely, sports tourism can contribute to achieving this, which is why we are glad that destinations, such as Salou, which are already a benchmark in Catalonia, are strongly committed to this type of tourism”, assured Domènech.
Finally, the managing director of the Salou Municipal Tourist Board, Marc Espasa, who spoke about the 19 sports tourism events that will take place during this year 2023.
