The plenary session of the Provincial Council of Huesca, held on May 10, approved the 2024 Housing Plan with 8 million euros, to help municipalities buy land and rehabilitate, acquire or build homes
The new DPH Housing Plan, perhaps the most ambitious in the history of this institution, aims to help municipalities solve problems such as the lack of housing for families, employees in the tourism sector or agricultural seasonal workers.
The Bajo/Baix Cinca region has been grappling for decades with a lack of sufficient housing to accommodate all the seasonal workers who arrive for the summer fruit harvest. It is estimated that this area can receive more than 8.000 seasonal workers annually. This population surge during the summer months often leads to substandard housing and social vulnerability, a problem that social organizations like Cáritas and Cruz Blanca have been working to address for years , in collaboration with local authorities. Some municipalities, such as Fraga, have already implemented measures to improve the situation for these individuals, offering counseling and temporary accommodation upon the arrival of these seasonal workers.
The new plan from the Provincial Council can help agricultural municipalities, which have been suffering for years from a lack of housing and population growth in the summer months, to allocate the resources provided by the provincial administration to housing for this group.
At the presentation, mayors like Francisco Javier Carrasquer (Belver de Cinca) already indicated their intention to use these funds for housing for seasonal workers , “ at this time of year, with the fruit harvest, the town's population increases by 20 percent and it is necessary to have housing ready for the seasonal workers. Something that we are going to address with this plan .”
The plan envisions investing eight million euros this legislative term, at a rate of two million euros per year . With this money, local councils will be able to invest up to 50.000 euros per dwelling , whether for the purchase of land, houses, or for their construction or renovation.
