"Villafranca will have more capacity to accommodate people in industries"

― What general balance do you have?

-I am very happy because we are more than meeting the objectives we had set. We have made investments that we have achieved by hand, through subsidies that come to us from other administrations or European funds, and I appreciate the work that the councilors of the government team and the City Council staff have been doing to achieve the objectives . We politicians would be nothing without the work of municipal employees.

― What do you say about the recent completion of the Palace House of the Mayordomos of the Dukes of Medinaceli?

-It was a very important project to highlight a building declared BIC (Asset of Cultural Interest) of the two we have in Villafranca. The Casa Palacio is on the main street, which further enhances its restoration. And it was thanks to the 1.5% cultural contribution of the Government of Spain, with an investment of nearly 850,000 euros, of which an important part is from the Ministry and the rest from the City Council. It will give a lot of value to the local heritage, since we are going to open a Museum of Popular Arts there. The equipment for the tourist information office is already on the State contracting platform and has been awarded to a company, which will also be located there. I hope that by the end of February this information office can be open to the public. We will continue working with another line of subsidies to complete the museum. The house was in ruins. We had a lot of problems, but we finally solved them. We have also decorated it externally with artistic lighting that enhances it more.

― The gym has already been completed and the equipment has been installed. Where are you currently at?

-It is located in the El Cerrillo sports complex and the construction has cost approximately 700,000 euros, to which we must add the equipment, close to 400,000 euros. I hope it will be operational by January 20.

― What role do sports facilities play?

-We have the El Cerrillo sports courts, the municipal gym, and said sports complex will very soon become a model space throughout the province thanks to the 600,000 euros of European funds from the ‘Sports Ecosystem’ project, with which we will transform these facilities in a modern, digitalized space, with access control, video surveillance and very sustainable, since we will bet on renewable energy and the use of LED lights, also acting in the parking lot and the enclosure with the theme of to accessibility. Villafranca has a very young population with active participation in sports through our sports and municipal clubs and associations. On the other hand, an athletics track was built at the request of the Los Agujetas Athletics Club. I am grateful to your board for the important work they do. We will continue to improve it within the Provincial Council Invest plan, with new LED lighting. We will continue to help, since this club has more than one hundred people and its successes are a fact at a sporting level. I hope one day we can get one of our neighbors to reach athletes like Martín Fiz, who was world and Olympic champion in athletics, Prince of Asturias awardee and has achieved other great recognitions.

―How will the Army Logistics Base affect your people?

– The La Rinconada BLET is only 5 kilometers from Villafranca and will bring us many good things but not easy ones. For this reason, we are going to work hard and well to welcome, with the best quality of services, both the companies that are going to settle in Villafranca and also the people who decide to come to live here to carry out their life project here. Therefore, if we expect more people and more companies, we need more industrial and residential land and facilities where people feel comfortable. The BLET has forced us to create a new design for the new times. For this reason, we obtained the PGOM and the POU as we are within the Metropolitan Area of ​​Córdoba, working very hard so that Villafranca, within 15 or 20 years, will be an example town at all levels (sustainability, sports and cultural facilities, schools, etc.). ..). We are going very fast. We will finish each term to start another one again at the PGOM and POU level. We are satisfied with the writing team. The fundamental objective is that Villafranca has the capacity to host industries and people who decide to come to this great town.

― A few months ago they launched the Tourism Sustainability Plan. What phase are you in at the moment?

– The Tourism Sustainability Plan has opened our eyes in many ways and gives us the possibility of creating a new way of generating an economy in our town. Villafranca is agricultural, industrial and very soon it will be a municipality that attracts thousands of tourists. From European funds we were able to raise 2.4 million euros that encompass different actions. On the one hand, we have the improvement of the Fuente Agria Hostel, we do non-motorized thematic itineraries through our mountain range and we also operate on the Guadalquivir River. The Fuente Agria Hostel will be much more accessible, it will be digitalized and its surroundings will be privileged. It is already on the State contracting platform for the drafting of the project for the Visitor Reception Center, which will be located there and there we will be able to demonstrate the flora and fauna of our closest environment. I hope it is completed by October or November 2025, and thus enhance the entire Fuente Agria Periurban Park.

-And in the Guadalquivir River?

– The Embarcadero was essential in 2024 and in the Tourism Sustainability Plan we included a Solar Boat to increase the tourist value of the river. In the Pfea and the municipal budget we propose a parking lot for motorhomes with 300,000 euros that, together with the arrangement of the kiosk and recreation area, will create an aquatic center close to the town center that can be enjoyed by neighbors and visitors.

― The Periurban Park can now be managed by the City Council.

– Correct. Last November, the Governing Council of the Board approved the Demanial Mutation of the land, so its use and management will be the Council’s, after a demarcation. This also allows us to set guidelines from the City Council so that this area has great tourist importance from the natural environment. We will continue working to give this space the boost it should always have.

– What analysis do you make of your town’s commerce and how do they support it?

– The Association of Entrepreneurs and Merchants, Acevi, is working phenomenally and is giving excellent results. People increasingly trust local commerce more and we, within our possibilities, help Acevi, increasing the municipal budget up to 20,000 euros, investing in the Christmas Market, the Entrepreneurs’ Gala and many more promotional actions.

We are here to help, listen to people and think about what our people need.

Paco palomares – Mayor of Villafranca

― What drives you to fight every day for your people?

– Nowadays politics is very reviled on the street. The policy only has one meaning: to help people have a better quality of life, providing them with all the necessary services, and at the same time comply with all the powers that a City Council has. We can make mistakes, but we have to be very clear about what our people need, what they demand from us, listen to citizens and value everything we hear. That should be the feeling of politics and anyone who thinks otherwise is totally wrong and things are surely not going to turn out well.

―How do you value the transformation that your town is undergoing and the one that is to come?

– I am fully aware of what you are saying and that is what we are working towards. It seems that all the projects we have and will have fall from the sky and Villafranca is going to grow by magic. Villafranca is going to grow by providing the means for all this to develop and have an impact on our municipality. And this is focused on citizens (neighbors, businessmen, associations, businesses…). We have a lot left to do, but you realize that every time you do something and think you have finished it, three or four more possibilities open up for you that must be faced and covered. And when you finish these four, eight more emerge. We are here to help people, to think about what our town needs and, of course, to listen to the citizens of Villafranca, who are, ultimately, the ones who give you the ideas, they mark a line for the future. of the town