Luxembourg, Luxemburg – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a EUR 100 million loan to the Seville Port Authority for the construction of a new entrance lock for the Port of Seville.

The contract for the first tranche of this loan (EUR 50 million) was signed 2006-06-27 in Seville by EIB Vice-President Isabel Martín Castellá and the Chairman of the Seville Port Authority, Manuel A. Fern´ndez González, in the presence of the Minister for Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez Arza, and the Mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín.

This EIB-financed project is intended to upgrade and improve access to the Port of Seville and mainly consists of replacing and enlarging the port‘s entrance lock. The new lock will make it possible to increase the port‘s capacity and meet the growing demand from maritime traffic.

The Port of Seville forms part of the trans-European ports network (TEN) and is a key hub of trade flows in Andalusia, the Spanish region that is the biggest recipient of European Union aid (Objective 1).