Malaga town awarded European funds to promote ancient olive trees

With just 3,400 inhabitants, Periana in the Axarquía on the eastern side of Malaga province is well-known for its peach trees and ancient olive trees, making it one of the main producers of olive oil in the east of Malaga area. The town wants to continue to promote this valuable natural heritage and now it is able to do so thanks to European funds.

Vice-president of the Mancomunidad association of town halls in the Axarquía, Marilé Muñiz, mayor of Periana, Meritxel Vizuete, and the Axarquía’s tourism spokesperson, Juan Peñas, announced on Thursday 16 January details of ‘Periana 2030’, a project designed to enhance the value of the town’s ancient olive trees, implement the EU’s Agenda 2030, which aims to “ensure positive future perspectives for all people, communities and places in Europe and promote sustainable development among its residents” through sustainable development measures.

Vizuete explained that the overall objective of the project “is to promote the sustainable development of Periana as a tool to improve the lives of people and the municipality”. She went on to say that the project has three parts: “Implementation Plan of the Agenda 2030 of Periana”; the promotion of sustainable tourism through the “Olivo Milenario” project and the awareness and education around the meaning and importance of sustainable development.”

The town has been awarded 130,500 euros through the Agenda 2030 programme and Vizuete said that Periana “has been one of the 13 Spanish municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants selected. Nearly 400 local governments, the vast majority of which have less than 5,000 inhabitants, have applied. It is the only project approved for a municipality in the province of Malaga".

Juan Peñas explained that the project “aims to provide the municipality with a long-term roadmap to improve the lives of the people who live in Periana and future generations, considering the economic, social, environmental and cultural components”. He added, “This plan should better position Periana to attract private investment and public funding.”

Another of the pillars of the project is based on sustainable tourism through the ancient olive trees. The aim is to disseminate the values of the cultural and natural heritage of the area and at the same time make this resource an opportunity for the promotion of rural tourism, “a source of wealth and improvement of the lives of the people of Periana”, according to Peñas.

“Periana wants to set up an olive tree visitor centre and organise an international meeting to promote the recognition of this natural heritage, to help promote sustainable tourism around this wealth and to bring together other municipalities, both national and foreign,” Peñas explained.

The project envisages the creation of a web site and a mobile application to help disseminate the great potential of sustainable tourism based on ancient olive trees, rural routes and complementary tourism offers: gastronomy, accommodation and culture.