The Leader Community Initiative uses high quality foods and
wine as an operational tool to develop other agritourism products and thus
contribute to the social and economic development of the Priorat region. Tourism
is no longer just an end in itself but becomes the basic tool for marketing and
the promotion of food products.
Leader Community Initiative
The aims of Leader development aid are to use 'wine
culture' as a model of integrated and sustainable development for the region,
and to enhance and improve the quality of food products. Aid is provided to:
help the development of basic tourism infrastructure (restaurants, lodgings,
luxury hotels) to ensure that the wine and olive oil producers publicise their
products;
assist the establishment of ecomuseums, wine shops and interpretation
centres to improve tourist knowledge of the region;
link the tourism promotion of the region with the existence of food
products.
Priorat Strategic Priorities 2001-2006
Priorat Strategic Priorities 2007-2013
The main areas eligible for aid are:
the processing and marketing of quality food products;
the management of waste from agribusiness and tourism with the use of
renewable energies and sustainable techniques;
tourist infrastructure to help promote wine culture and the natural and
cultural heritage that defines this rural area. This should ensure minimum
levels of quality accommodation and catering;
companies in complementary services, particularly handicrafts and services
for agritourism;
products of the global wine culture, with facilities for visitor reception,
farm shops and creation of tourist products related to agricultural products;
product presentation;
computing and telecommunications.
A new restaurant serving high quality foods
supported by the best quality wines of Priorat. This is the Irreducibles
formula, a restaurant set up in Gratallops by two promoters linked to some of
the most prestigious cellars of the county. Linking restaurant owners to
wineries has provided both an exceptional wine list and new customers from the
world of enology.
These seven areas include the costs of creating a corporate
image, promotional and branded products, the restoration of oil mills and
warehouses to accommodate visitors, farm shops, the R & D of new
technologies, new products or improvement of existing ones and investments in
the introduction of quality control systems.
The Priorat Local Action Group consists of 21 local councils
and 28 private entities, including the wine Regulatory Board, 8 cooperatives,
warehouses, 3 tourism boards, an agricultural union (Unio of Pagesos) and
hoteliers and tourism entrepreneurs.
The potential beneficiaries are companies and individual
entrepreneurs who employ less than 50 workers and have an annual turnover of
less that 7 million euros. Total aid amounts to 3.6 million euros over 5 years,
with 50% funded by EU, with the remaining 50% contributed by the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the Generalitat de Catalunya and
Local Government.
