The Spanish government said on Tuesday it would invest 414 million euros ($481 million) as part of plans to boost the supply of raw materials and industries critical to the green and digital transitions.
The move is in line with broader efforts by the European Union to strengthen its strategic autonomy and reduce its dependence on imports.
The funds will go to measures including recycling raw materials from waste and new exploration, the government said.
The plan aimed at fostering the sustainable management of such resources lists 34 measures, including the restoration of abandoned mining facilities and degraded areas.
Spain is the world’s leading producer of roofing slate, the EU’s sole producer of strontium and sepiolite, the bloc’s second-largest producer of copper and also has key fluorspar, feldspar and tungsten deposits, the Environment Ministry said in a statement.
($1 = 0.8601 euros)
(By Pietro Lombardi; Editing by David Latona)
