“The Government will authorise the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR) to grant funding to municipalities, up to the amount of 180 million euros, for the construction and renovation of schools”.

According to the office of the Deputy Minister and Minister of Territorial Cohesion, the measure will allow the approval of applications that were not initially included in the competition launched under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

The government thus wants to prevent delays in projects that have already been contracted under the PRR and, which foresees the construction or renovation of 75 schools by June 2026.

“This additional investment creates a safety net that will allow us, in the event of any delays in the completion of interventions financed by the PRR, to meet the planned targets and not waste funds”, stressed Minister Castro Almeida, quoted in a statement.

Of the 180 million euros now authorized, the largest share will go to the CCDR of the Center (60 million euros). The North and Lisbon and Tagus Valley will receive 50 million euros, 12 million euros will be allocated to the Algarve, and eight million euros to the Alentejo.

The interventions to be financed will be selected according to the “maturity of the project”, says the Ministry, which explains that the first priority will be schools already under construction, followed by the projects awarded and, finally, the projects for which a call for tenders has already been published.