El Ayuntamiento de Salamanca is going to give a decisive boost to its investment effort in neighborhoods, public spaces, green areas, and municipal infrastructures by injecting a very significant portion of the €20,786,127.86 surplus with which the 2024 fiscal year ended after having spent nearly €194.5 million last year.
The Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, has reviewed the more than twenty projects that will be carried out using the surplus, with the estimated investment for each one, in addition to the projects outlined in the 2025 budgets totaling €6.1 million in investment. The mayor states that these numbers demonstrate that «the accounts of the Salamanca City Council are more than healthy» and allow for «major city projects to improve the quality of life of its citizens without raising taxes.»
Renewal of networks
€1.3 million of the surplus will be allocated to advancing the renewal of pipelines to prevent breakage and improve service quality. There will be interventions in Pizarrales west and east; in seven streets of Chamberí north; in the Estación promenade; and in Libreros street. Additionally, 3.5 kilometers of pipes will be replaced with the 2025 budget in 24 streets in the neighborhoods of Pizarrales, Blanco, Vidal, Prosperidad, El Rollo, and Chinchibarra, with an investment of around €1.5 million.
Plaza de Los Bandos
€1.2 million will be allocated to the renovation project of the Plaza de Los Bandos. «We are talking about one of the most anticipated and demanded works by the people of Salamanca. With this investment plus the €100,000 budgeted for 2025, a decisive boost will be given to tender the works this year and start them at the beginning of the following year,» stated García Carbayo.
Sports infrastructures
The Mayor of Salamanca pointed out that sports infrastructures «have a special role in the investments» prioritized with the surplus. €6.9 million will be invested in the project for the new sports center in Pizarrales, another commitment from the government’s electoral program.
There are also planned interventions in the Nemesio Martín ‘Neme’ soccer field worth €1 million, including the renovation of the grass, fencing, and the construction of new changing rooms. García Carbayo recalled that this field is used by the 400 children of Hergar Helmántica.
The project of a sports court, mainly for basketball as requested by the residents, in the Los Alcaldes neighborhood (€175,000) will also be carried out. Additionally, the tennis courts at the Río Tormes sports center will be improved with lighting (€86,000) in the San José neighborhood. New toilets will be built in the annex of Würburg (€70,000) which currently lacks them; and improvements will be made to the roofs of the La Alamedilla pavilion (€200,000), the adjacent premises used by sports delegations (€25,000), and the Police Local pavilion (€195,000).
Investments in neighborhoods
Actions are also planned in the children’s playgrounds at the Jesuitas park (€65,000); at the Baldío park (€85,000) with improvements to enhance safety around its lake; and stairs will be installed to access the Huerta Otea park from the new Hospital (€75,000). These three improvements were requested by residents and associations in the Participatory Budgets. Additionally, the project to improve and add new elements to the children’s play area in the Carmelitas square will receive an investment of €120,000. Greening of the city The commitment to greening the city remains strong. Currently, in the over 2.7 million square meters of municipal green areas in the city, there are nearly 140,000 trees and shrubs. This number should be added to the entire tree population along the Tormes riverbank, under the jurisdiction of the CHD, as well as the green areas of the university campus and private spaces. Thus, Salamanca has one tree per inhabitant.
Interventions will also be carried out in the Carmelitas and Torres Villarroel promenades to green them, with an investment of €85,000 in each. Promotion of employment The creation of jobs and opportunities for unemployed individuals is one of the priorities of the Salamanca City Council. Thanks to the work of the Center for Training and Labor Guidance (CEFOL), this year nearly 2,000 people will have access to the job market. This number will almost quadruple the figure recorded in 2024, a year in which the increase in trained individuals already represented a 60% rise compared to the previous year. An additional €312,000 will be invested to complete the CEFOL infrastructures and launch new employment workshops, this time linked to the hospitality sector to meet the current demand for professionals.
Finally, the rest of the surplus will be allocated to amortize the outstanding debt capital equivalent to the loan planned in the 2025 budget to finance investments (€4,410,142.36), which will help reduce municipal indebtedness.