Free Wifi in Almuñecar’s Public Spaces Thanks to the EU’s New WiFi4EU Programme in Spain

The Plaza de la Constitución, the Paseo del Altillo in Almuñecar, and the Plaza de la Independecia in La Herradura are the three public spaces in the municipality that already have free Wi-Fi, thanks to the new EU-funded programme called WiFi4EU. 

The deputy mayor of La Herradura, Juan Jose Ruiz Joya, has been in charge of launching the new service in the Plaza Herradureña de la Independencia, whilst on the Paseo del Altillo and in the Plaza de la Constitución in Almuñecar, Beatriz González, the lieutenant mayor and Head of Citizen Participation has enacted this new technological enhancement.

In both cases, the deputy mayor was accompanied by the councillor for Administrative Organisation and Finance, Rafael Caballero Jiménez.

The deputy mayor explained that in the aforementioned public spaces, “residents will use a captive portal as an access method. The user will then connect to the open wireless network called ‘WiFi4EU,’ a portal will then appear on their mobile device (tablet, mobile or laptop). To be able to access the internet for a limited time but free of cost, the user must first register. The connection time per user will be 12 hours,” explained Rafael Caballero Jiménez.

Almuñecar was one of the 510 Spanish municipalities to have Wi-Fi financed by the European Union with an amount of €15,000.

“The granting of this aid does not mean that there will be Wi-Fi in the entire municipality or urban area. The aforementioned contribution of €15,000 is intended for the payment of installing free wireless internet, whereas the town hall will be in charge of maintenance.

The WiFi4EU initiative has been launched by the European Commission and includes proposals from municipalities across Europe that register to apply for the possibility of benefiting from European Union funding to create free wireless Internet access points in spaces public.