In all, 85.5% of Flims residents voted in favour of the project, with voter turnout at 67.7%. This followed a vote in Falera (93.2%), and Laax (93.2%).

The clarity of the result is a clear vote of confidence in the authorities and the Weisse Arena Group, the mayor of Laax, Franz Gschwend, told reporters in Laax, canton Graubünden, on Sunday.

Following the yes vote, the municipality-owned Finanz Infra AG will now take over the cable cars, ski lifts, buildings and cable networks of the Weisse Arena Bergbahnen. Project manager Adrian Wolf told the Keystone-SDA news agency that an attempt will be made to finalise this before the end of the year. However, a precise timetable is not available.

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The takeover is the first so-called“sell-and-lease-back” procedure in Switzerland. The mountain railways will lease back the infrastructure from Finanz Infra and operate it as before. It's“really easy”, said Reto Gurtner in Laax. A model that will“set a precedent in the future”, project manager Wolf was certain.

With the purchase, regional interests are now secured for the long term. The mayor of Falera, Norbert Good, has called this a historical step. The aim is to protect the facilities from foreign investors who have already expressed an interest.

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Translated from German by DeepL/sb