The Vice-President of the Junta de Andalucía and Councillor for Tourism, Juan Marín, and the Councillor for Employment and Training, Rocío Blanco, visited Mijas last Friday, where they were received by the government team. In this meeting, they highlighted the work carried out by both administrations to put the CIOMijas centre back into operation, a centre which they also visited afterwards.

The first stop made by the Vice-president and the Councillor was the Mijas Town Hall, where the government team was waiting for them, with the Mayor Josele González (PSOE) and the First Deputy Mayor, José Carlos Martín (Cs), at the head. There, they signed the book of honour, received a gift from the Consistory, and held a working meeting on the recovery of the tourism sector and future projects planned for our municipality, among other topics.

Then, the delegation travelled to the CIOMijas (La Cala) which is gradually resuming its activity. In 2020, the Council and the Town Hall signed an agreement to promote this centre and, as the Mijas Councillor explained, "provide sufficient resources to these great infrastructures", also recalling that "it was precisely the courses promoted by the Town Hall that were the first to be held in this recent stage of the CIO Mijas".

During this visit, information about CIOMijas was revealed, including the fact that 17 new courses will be launched in 2022, with 255 places and a budget set aside by the Junta de Andalucía of more than 462,000 euros. "Both the Junta and the Town Hall are on the same line, which is none other than getting the CIO to work at full capacity, and that is why we can make this visit. Thanks to this joint work, young people can be trained in tourism excellence to have opportunities in this sector, which is going through a good time right now," said the Vice-President of the regional administration.

In this regard, the Tourism Councillor, José Carlos Martín, thanked the Vice-President, and the Regional Minister for their visit, "to tell us about the roadmap that this educational centre is going to implement which will, once again, be a flagship not only for Mijas but for practically the whole Andalusia".

The first of the 17 courses programmed for this year has already begun. It is the Reception of Tourist Accommodation, with a duration of 630 hours and in which 15 students are participating. According to the Regional Minister for Employment, training actions are contemplated for unemployed people but also active workers, "in areas such as customer service, sommelier, "ibérico" ham slicing and tasting, and other courses on transversal subjects such as food safety, professional English, German and also key competences".

Taking advantage of the facilities tour, the authorities also greeted the students from La Fonda and La Cónsula Catering Schools, who are in Mijas doing practical work on olives and Malaga wine, and "ibérico" ham slicing.

In addition to resuming training activities, last year, the CIO Mijas became a National Reference Centre (CRN) in Hospitality and Tourism, and is now a space for innovation and experimentation "unique in Spain" in Accommodation, Catering and Gaming areas.

CIO hotel and the student residence refurbishment

During last Friday's reception, the CIOMijas hotel and the student residence were also discussed, since, as announced by the Councillor for Employment, the public company "Turismo Costa del Sol" is preparing a report to study the viability of the facilities and, subsequently, to set a price quote on the refurbishment works of these spaces. "We intend to have this planning done by October or November, and then start the refurbishment works and the residence at the beginning of 2023".

Likewise, the Andalusian Regional Government has already confirmed that it will spend 2.6 million euros on air-conditioning costs for the centre, the approval of new classrooms, and repairing the damage caused by the Filomena storm in the CIO's kitchens. "We are always going to take advantage of all the resources available to us. It is with collaboration and institutional loyalty that we are achieving a significant transformation in our town. It was established as the third-largest municipality in the province of Malaga," said the Mijas Mayor. In this regard, the Vice-President of the Andalusian government pointed out that "as I have written in the signature’s book, Mijas is precisely the reflection of the tourism sector in our community. I hope and wish that this will continue to be the case for a long time. The First Deputy Mayor of Mijas insisted that "tourism and employment always go hand in hand in our municipality, and everything related to these two points will have our greatest interest and our greatest support".
 

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