The Azcon government allocates $1 million for more than a thousand snow cannons at ski resorts

Aragon’s Prime Minister, Jorge Azcun, highlighted on Tuesday public investments in the ski slopes of Aramón, which are only 50% owned by the regional executive. Thus, the popular leader of Formigal announced new snowmaking cannons to be installed at the group’s stations in Aragon, which total 1,022 in the last two years.

“532 new snow cannons were installed in Formigal alone. To these were added 110 cannons from Panticosa and 319 cannons from Cerler. To these units we must add the 61 cannons installed in the Valdelinares ski resort, in the province of Teruel,” explained Azcon, who explained that these new installations consume less water and 30% less energy than the old cannons.

Thanks to these machines, as well as other initiatives, the regional government has already spent 40 million euros out of the 78 million euros planned for these four years on snowmaking. Of this invested total, 77% belongs to funds from the Aragon government through the Perinos Plan and the Teruel Investment Fund, and the remaining 23% – less than a quarter – to Aramón funds.

In addition to thousands of new snow cannons, three water storage ponds were built in the ski resorts of Formigal, Cerler and Valdelinares, increasing the storage capacity in Cerler by 243%, in Formigal by 63%, and in Valdelinares by 80%.

Likewise, the investment will allow the launch of a total of four generations of snow “SnowFactory” in the ski resorts of Formigal and Javalambre, the two pioneers in Spain.

The President of Aragon said: “SnowFactory technology is capable of producing snow even with positive temperatures, and it ensures continuity of activity at the lowest levels of stations during the snow season, and thus will help boost the economy of the valleys.”

All of this new infrastructure will be operational with the start of the season, which will start on Saturday, November 29 at the Aramon stations.

“Through the Perinos Plan, projects have been launched that will enhance basic economic activity,” Azkun stressed. “If we add the projects that have already been implemented and those that are under implementation during these two years and directly related to the snow sector, we can now talk about only 146.5 million euros in direct actions in the snow sector,” he concluded.