SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, June 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain (GCPHE) will begin next September the celebration of the program of events on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Group. The new Culture commission that is set up will be in charge of closing the final program of events for this celebration, which will last from September 2023 to September 2024.
This was announced at a press conference by the mayor of La Laguna and president of the Group, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, who advanced that the beginning of the celebrations will take place in Ávila around September 17 and is only waiting for the Casa de Real confirm the presence of His Majesty King Felipe VI, to know the exact day of this solemn act. Luis Yeray Gutiérrez also reiterated Queen Sofía’s commitment to attend the concert that will take place in the autumn at the Cathedral of La Laguna.
La Laguna has hosted this Saturday the Assembly of Mayors and Mayors of the Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain, the entity that brings together the 15 Spanish cities recognized by Unesco for their exceptional universal values. After the protocol family photo, which took place in the Plaza del Adelantado, the plenary hall of the City Council hosted what is the last assembly before the constitution of local corporations after the last municipal elections.
“It is an honor and a great responsibility to once again have fifteen cities in our city that represent the best of the Spain brand,” said the mayor of La Laguna and president of the Group, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, in the subsequent appearance before the media. of communication, in which he was accompanied by the mayors of Santiago de Compostela, Xosé Sánchez Bugallo, and of Tarragona, Pau Ricomá, who are part of the Executive Commission.
Luis Yeray Gutiérrez wanted to take stock of the Group’s trajectory in these last four years: “This has been a very difficult period for our cities, but despite the challenge posed by the pandemic, the GCPHE has emerged stronger. We have strengthened our alliances within and outside of our country, we have reached very important agreements with the Government of Spain for the development of conservation policies for our historic quarters,” he said, referring to the agreement reached with the Ministry of Tourism for the rehabilitation of monuments and historic buildings. , for 45 million euros.
“The Heritage Cities anticipated the recovery of the tourism sector at the time with powerful promotion and dissemination campaigns and a strong presence in international fairs, which now translates into visitor figures with levels prior to the pandemic,” said the Group’s president. . “We have also maintained and reinforced our commitment to culture, with the Heritage Night as the most outstanding example, a day that has established itself as the great showcase of what our 15 cities can offer in the artistic and cultural field. Along these lines We have established alliances with heritage cities from other countries, such as Mexico, Peru and Cuba, which this year are joining the celebration of Heritage Night, on September 17”.
“We know what the strengths of our cities are, places with unique and exceptional value, which represent an attraction for quality tourism, respectful of the environment, who seek gastronomic experiences, who want to know the history and culture of our cities, historical monuments and that has positioned us on the national and international scene. The Group has been strengthened and thus we will continue working with the new assembly that will be constituted at the end of July”, commented Luis Yeray Gutiérrez.
The mayors of Santiago de Compostela and Tarragona also took stock of these four years. “For some it has been our last assembly, but I leave with the conviction that this is a Group that works very seriously for heritage and for cities. In that sense, I wish the Group a long life because it really does a great job” , said Pau Ricomá.
For his part, Xosé Sánchez Bugallo, who is finishing his second stage in the Group, assured that it gives him “great satisfaction” to see that the climate of dialogue, collaboration and mutual support is maintained: “It seems to me that we are an enormously lucky because we have an immense living historical heritage and, precisely, the great challenge for which all the cities work is to maintain that historical heritage, but, at the same time, to maintain the life of the different cities”.
INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
On the other hand, the mayor of La Laguna underlined the Group’s willingness to continue its international presence with upcoming appointments in the second half of the year with presentations in destinations such as Italy, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries and the cities of Chicago and Toronto, thanks to the agreement with Paradores and Madrid Destino, in addition to attending international fairs in Japan (JATA in Osaka in October) and London (World Travel Market in November), and professional conferences organized by Turespaña to support the marketing of destinations in international markets.
The Assembly has also approved the renovation of the Group’s web portal. “If we want to reach all parts of the world and improve our international image, it is clear that we have to have a top-quality Internet presence, with more and better content, and we are going to bet on it,” said Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, who also reported an upcoming special edition of 15 travel books dedicated to each of the cities, as material for tourism and heritage promotion.
