- In addition to Cepsa's facilities, visitors can also discover the Laguna Primera de Palos lagoon
- As in previous years, the school programs "Cuadernos de la Energía" and "World Wetlands Day" marked the start of the annual program of visits
- The year 2016 saw the 10th Annual Open Days, pioneering for chemical and energy companies in Andalusia
A total of 5,601 people in 2016 visited Cepsa's facilities in Huelva, thanks to the various visit programs held by the Company during the year, which allow it to show the public the realities of its activity.
Some 83% of visitors come from Huelva and the surrounding areas, the remaining requests being received from other provinces of Andalusia, namely Seville and Cádiz; other regions, like Madrid; and even other countries, such as the UK, France, Portugal and China.
The open days policy, which has always been a distinguishing feature of Cepsa, allows the public to see for themselves what the refining, petrochemicals and energy industry is all about, as well as the activities of Fundación Cepsa, active in our province, in the Company's production centers of La Rábida Refinery and Palos Chemical Plant.
The series of visits kicks off in the months of January and February with the school programs "Cuadernos de la Energía" and "World Wetlands Day", which are held in collaboration with the Regional Departments of Education, the Environment and Land Use Planning. Through these two initiatives, a total of 2,714 pupils from 50 education centers attended Cepsa's facilities in order to learn about the world of oil, the associated chemistry and its applications, before moving on to visit the Laguna Primera de Palos lagoon, a Natural Park included in the Network of Protected Spaces of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia.
In addition to these educational programs, there are visits from groups of students in vocational training and secondary education, as well as university students, both from Spain and abroad, in most cases with energy or occupational hazard prevention qualifications.
It is also worth highlighting the attendance of neighborhood groups, training centers for employment, the provincial penitentiary center and other entities, as well as major institutional visits, such as that of the Chinese delegation of the China Petroleum & Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF), which brings together more than 20,000 companies in China.
An optional addition for those interested was to extend the program by enjoying the natural or cultural spaces related to its social responsibility activity, which Cepsa wishes to promote and enhance within all of its action programs; these are, in addition to the aforementioned Laguna Primera de Palos, the protected Odiel Marshes space, the "Odiel Dunes" Botanical Garden and the Wharf of the Caravels. Notably, ornithologists and bird watching enthusiasts, mostly from the UK, come to the Laguna Primera de Palos to enjoy the exceptional transit of species. Efforts to conserve the environment and protect biodiversity are constant activities at Cepsa.
open day
One of Cepsa's most successful and most significant visit programs are its Open Days, held this year in April, which began back in 1999, making Cepsa a pioneer in Andalusia in the chemical and energy sector. This tenth edition saw over 600 visitors mainly from the capital of Huelva, who came to learn about the industrial complex, our production processes and operational excellence, technological innovation, our investments, as well as the Company's Environmental, Safety, Quality and Corporate Responsibility policies.
Some 90% of participants described their visit as "very appropriate, complete and enlightening", according to the satisfaction survey they filled out.
This intense program of visits allows the Company to fulfill its commitment to transparency and maintain constant dialog with the public, as well as to show our leadership, technical excellence and social responsibility beyond our borders. In the last 15 years, 64,713 people have visited Cepsa's facilities in Huelva.
CEPSA IN HUELVA PROVINCE
Cepsa has two production centers in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva): the “La Rábida” refinery and the Palos Chemical Plant, which together have a direct workforce of more than 1,000. These centers make Cepsa one of the companies with the most significant socioeconomic activity and impact in the province.