CEB and Rivas City Council sign €40 million loan for metro line urban development project

• The Rivas City Council (municipality of Madrid) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) have signed €40 million in financing for the urban development of Metro Line 9B where it runs through the city.
• The project will create a 2.5-kilometre green corridor with communal and gathering spaces for residents.
• Covering the metro line is one of the strategic projects under the Rivas Urban Agenda 2030. With this project, the City Council is committing to more sustainable and cohesive urban development.

Rivas Vaciamadrid— The Rivas City Council today began construction work on metro line 9B where it runs through the city. This is one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by the municipal government, with a clear objective: to close the divide that splits the city in two, between the Cerro del Telégrafo sports center and Rivas Futura.

To carry out this project, which will transform both the city's physical layout and the way people move through it, the Rivas City Council and the CEB have signed a €40 million loan to finance the work.

This is the first operation directly financed by a multilateral development bank with the municipality of Rivas, and it is in line with the CEB's mission of financing projects that improve people's living conditions and strengthen social cohesion in Europe. The loan will contribute to various initiatives included in the Rivas Urban Agenda 2030, aimed at improving access to housing, strengthening urban cohesion and bringing services closer to residents.

During the project ceremony marking the signature, held this morning at the Cerro del Telégrafo sports centre, the Mayor of Rivas emphasised that "today we are finally starting work on the metro, and we are doing so thanks to the support provided through this CEB financing facility, which we are covering entirely with municipal resources thanks to the sound financial health of the Rivas City Council."

For her part, María Sigüenza, the CEB's Country Manager for Spain, stated during her remarks: "The CEB's mission remains, in essence, the same as it was 70 years ago: to help build more cohesive, inclusive and resilient societies – a goal fully served by the loan agreement we have just signed with the Rivas City Council."

A 2.5 KM green corridor

The project will create a 2.5-kilometre-long and 30-metre-wide green corridor for the metro where it passes through Rivas, connecting the city between the Rivas Urbanizaciones and Rivas Futura stations and extend the Parque Lineal from the Cerro del Telégrafo sports centre.

Developing the area next to the metro line is a core part of Rivas's urban planning for the next decade, as set out in the Rivas Urban Agenda 2030, of which it is a flagship project. With this work, the municipal government is committing to more sustainable and cohesive urban development designed with people in mind.

This project will not only improve mobility and reduce the environmental impact in Rivas, but it will also help rebalance the municipality by integrating areas that currently remain disconnected, such as the industrial and residential zones.

To carry out the works, the Rivas City Council submitted the documentation for the construction and implementation of the infrastructure project to the Community of Madrid before the summer, following approval by its Governing Board. The document sets out the works through which the Rivas City Council will cover the 2.5 km of track that currently runs at surface level.