SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The First National Congress of Holy Week Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods and World Heritage Cities will analyze in Úbeda, from October 27 to 29, the characteristics of Holy Week from different points of view, beyond the strictly religious one, addressing its impact on the history of art, economics, business or tourism.
The president of the Group of World Heritage Cities and mayor of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, has indicated that the celebration of Holy Week in the 15 cities of the Group attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world every year, who are “shocked” by the beauty of the historic centers and traditions of these 15 cities. “We are talking about events that in most of our cities are declared Festivals of National and International Tourist Interest,” he added.
Luis Yeray Gutiérrez explained that this first Congress in Úbeda opens the door to the union of the entire cultural and associative fabric of the Heritage Cities and will conclude with the official constitution of the Spanish Association of Holy Week and World Heritage Cities. “In short, we are taking a very important step to enhance the exceptional values that make us strong as a Group and highlight our uniqueness,” added the Group’s president.
The mayor of La Laguna has indicated that this initiative “was born with a vocation for continuity and with the intention of visiting other cities of the Group in successive editions, to deepen the promotion of Holy Week from multidisciplinary axes”, and has announced that they can now confirm that Mérida will host the 2024 edition.
Organized by the Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain, the City Council of Úbeda and the Union of Holy Week Brotherhoods of Úbeda, the event has the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture, thanks to the nominative subsidy for cities declared World Heritage , through the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts. The City Council of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, which holds the presidency of the Group, will be represented by the Councilor for Heritage, Adolfo Cordobés, and the Councilor for Tourism, Leticia Villegas.
For her part, the mayor of Úbeda, Antonia Olivares, has highlighted that the Congress initiative was born from the Union of Holy Week Brotherhoods of Úbeda and the Úbeda City Council has collaborated since its inception. “After the support of the Group, which received the proposal with enthusiasm, it has also had other entities and administrations that have joined the Congress, such as the Provincial Council of Jaén, the Junta de Andalucía or the Unicaja Foundation” , said.
CONGRESS PROGRAM.
The inauguration of the Congress will take place on October 27, at 6:00 p.m., with a mass in the Church of San Isidoro. At 7:30 p.m. the congressmen and authorities will be received, to begin at 8:00 p.m. with the opening to the public of the photography exhibition ‘Fifteen World Heritage Cities, fifteen different forms of Holy Week’, in the Pintor Elbo Room of the Santiago Hospital.
The Congress will continue on Saturday, October 28, at 9:00 a.m., at the Hospital of Santiago, with the first presentation ‘Jaén, Interior Paradise, as a model for Holy Week in the World Heritage cities of Úbeda and Baeza’, by of the Deputy for Promotion and Tourism, Francisco Javier Lozano. The day will also address such interesting topics as: ‘Heritage Cities: the challenge of preserving and maintaining unique scenarios for Holy Week’, where the mayor of Mérida, Antonio Rodríguez Osuna, will speak.
It will be followed by ‘The iconographic richness in the Christological imagery of Holy Week in the fifteen World Heritage cities of Spain, by José Miguel Gámez, councilor for World Heritage and Innovation of Úbeda. The following presentations revolve around ‘Holy Week, an example of protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage’ (Elena Vázquez, technical advisor in the General Subdirectorate of Protection of Historical Heritage of the Directorate of Fine Arts in the Ministry of Culture); ‘Holy Week of the 21st century, popular religiosity or something more’ (José Antonio Jiménez, pro-vicar general of the Diocese of Jaén) or ‘Holy Week and accessibility in World Heritage cities’ (Cristóbal Martínez, ONCE delegate in Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, and Israel Muñoz, accessibility technician at the Ávila City Council).
The program continues with ‘Exceptional cultural values that characterize the Holy Week celebrations, which take place in the unique environment that our World Heritage cities represent’, (led by Saray Herrera, international doctor in Art History from the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage); ‘The media and Holy Week of the 21st century in World Heritage cities’, (Juan Vargas, director of Innovation, Business and Communication at Canal Sur) and ‘Holy Week and World Heritage Cities, a tourism project common, necessary and to be described’ (Arturo Bernal, Minister of Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía).
On the afternoon of Saturday, October 28, the Spanish Association of Holy Week and World Heritage Cities will be officially established, in the Sacristy of the Hospital of Santiago. After that, the extraordinary concert of ‘Holy Week Marches’, led by Cristóbal López Gándara, will begin in the Auditorium of the Hospital of Santiago.
