The Project Acceleration Unit (UAP), part of the Regional Ministry of Economy, Finance and European Funds, has supported 156 projects since it was established. The projects are expected to mobilise €21.851 billion in investment and create 64,685 jobs in Andalusia.
Carolina España, the region’s third vice-president and minister for economy, finance and European funds, said the administration’s relationship with businesses had changed, and that investors now saw it as an ally when considering investments in Andalusia. She said the unit helped attract projects and investment by speeding up procedures, supporting investor organisations and contributing to administrative simplification.
A total of 46 projects have completed the administrative procedures required to begin operations. Together, they represent €2.243 billion in investment and are expected to generate 11,932 jobs.
Projects are located across all eight provinces. Seville has 31, Cádiz 28 and Málaga 19. The remaining provincial totals are Huelva (17), Córdoba (13), Almería (11), Jaén (8) and Granada (4). A further 25 projects span more than one province. Of the 156 projects in the unit’s portfolio, 55 were assigned through a declaration of strategic interest and 101 by agreement of the General Commission of Deputy Ministers.
Renewable energy accounts for 70 projects, followed by industry with 42 and tourism with 13. There are also nine mining projects. Other areas include healthcare and residential development, with four projects each; commerce, with three; agriculture, with two; and administration, research, development and innovation, sport, audiovisual, culture, information and communications technology, and water, with one project apiece.
The regional government says the unit helped major companies including Iberdrola, Repsol and Ignis obtain authorisations a year earlier than expected, with their projects now under construction or in operation. It also cites progress on environmental and substantive mining procedures for Atalaya’s projects in Huelva, which are now under construction or in operation.
In Los Barrios, a green hydrogen production and storage plant promoted by Coagener Soluciones Técnicas Integrales received Integrated Environmental Authorisation in under seven months. The Airbus Consolidation Cádiz project obtained the required urban-planning change in five months. In Linares, Sonae Arauco received a substantial modification to its Integrated Environmental Authorisation in under six months, enabling it to inaugurate an expansion and modernisation of its wood-products plant, including Industry 4.0 solutions, last December.
The unit has also coordinated and supported major public or public-private healthcare projects, including the new hospital in Málaga and the Huelva Maternal and Child Hospital. Its intervention helped speed up the administrative processing of the construction contract for the Huelva project.
The UAP is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of senior civil servants. The European Commission has cited it as an example of good practice for accelerating permits for renewable-energy infrastructure. In 2024, the Confederation of Businesspeople of Andalusia recognised the unit for its contribution to business activity and the improvement of democratic quality.