PICSA: the European project for sustainable construction and transport in Andalucía

The autonomous region of Andalucía in southern Spain is leading the charge in energy conservation while creating sustainable construction and transport solutions. Thanks to this European project, which drew its inspiration from the award-winning PICSA programme, thousands of buildings have been thermally insulated in record time.

PICSA won the Regiostars award for best European project in 2015 and secured third place in 2022 among the 15 best projects supported by the European Union's Cohesion Policy over the last 15 years.

Joaquín Villar Rodríguez the head of the Internationalisation and Prospective Department at the Andalusian Energy Agency told Euronews: "The subsidy rates were high, making it possible to complete more than 36,000 interventions in less than one year, this prevented more than 85,000 tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and generated €280 million worth of savings for the families who benefited from the programme".

More than 7,000 vulnerable families have benefited from the PICSA European sustainable construction project in Andalucía. In the La Plata district of Jerez, many of the residents have retired and are looking to make their homes more comfortable in extreme temperatures.

Thanks to PICSA, the subsidies available for insulating walls and roofs have risen to 70% while homeowners are only required to cover 30% of the bill. And even if the work isn't visible to the naked eye, the reduction in heating costs is evident.

Antonio Ramos Fuentes, the president of La Plata Neighbourhood Association said that 60% of energy was saved. "In total, five buildings and nine low-rise houses have been completely refurbished. We notice this and when we talk to people, they tell us that the temperature