Boost of the so-called social economy in the Baix Llobregat and l’Hospitalet. In the last five years, almost 200 such projects have been created in this area of Catalonia, according to data provided by the Ateneu Cooperatiu del Baix Llobregat and by the Col·lectiva, the Ateneu Cooperatiu de l’Hospitalet.
It was precisely between 2016 and 2017 when these two entities that try to promote this type of economy were created. Since then, 146 companies and entities in this sector have been created in Baix Llobregat. For its part, l’Hospitalet has added 51 new cooperatives. Between both neighboring territories they reach 197 initiatives. Several have been backed by the Projectes Singulars program of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
This boom has a direct impact on the labor market. In l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, 174 new jobs have been created. For its part, in the Baix Llobregat 580. Thus, 754 newly created jobs are reached.
The Department of Business and Labor has contributed to this revitalization by investing 6.9 million euros in the Baix Llobregat. The same body of the Generalitat de Catalunya has allocated more than 2 million euros in l’Hospitalet.
11,491 people have participated in the activities organized by the Ateneu Cooperatiu del Baix Llobregat. According to the Minister of Economic and Strategic Development of the Baix Llobregat County Council, Lourdes Borrell, the university of this region “has almost 10% of the total number of people who have reached the program in Catalonia”, in reference to the data of the Social Economy Plan of the Generalitat.
6,000 people have participated in the activities of La Col·lectiva de l’Hospitalet. Laia Ramos, a member of La Fundició, one of the promoters, highlights the “importance of cooperativism as a formula for generating jobs” but goes further and values the potential of the social economy to be a “device for economic transformation and Social”.
“This economy promotes a less unequal and fairer model of society: companies do not relocate because the same people who produce are the ones who consume, generating circular, sustainable and quality economy circuits”, considers the general director of Social Economy and Solidària, the Third Sector and the Cooperatives of the Generalitat, Josep Vidal.
Throughout Catalonia, during the last five years more than 1,000 cooperative companies have been created and 4,757 new jobs have been created, according to data provided by the Generalitat.
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