June 9, 2021 - Spain marked an important milestone with the approval on June 8 of the country’s first Cycling and Walking Strategy to promote a modal shift to cycling as part of its 3 Billion Euro recovery plan. Presented by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda it underlines the first time that the budget for 2021 allocates 5 million Euros exclusively to the development of cycling.
The strategy features 10 key themes with 28 initiatives until 2025 to promote a favourable cultural change to sustainable mobility including key priorities:
- Advancement of sustainable mobility through a modal shift to cycling
- Promote a healthy lifestyle through active mobility
- Harness the potential of cycle tourism
- Promote and protect leisure and sport cycling
- Coordinate the actions of various government sectors to promote cycling
Other positive elements of the Strategy’s vision include improved quality of life by increasing active mobility, calmer traffic that favours the safety of the most vulnerable groups and a decrease in accidents, improved air quality, decreased emissions and a low-carbon economy, the advancement of gender equality, greater autonomy for children, adolescents and the elderly, and a more dynamic bicycle sector along with its value chain to fuel industry growth and create more specialized employment opportunities.
Last month Spain reported that bicycle sales were soaring in 2020 up 24.10% over the previous year, and had surpassed 1.5 million units with e-bikes showing the greatest increase up 48.9% with over 200,000 units sold, while urban models surged 46.4% – read more here.
