The president of the Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain and mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, yesterday expressed the need for greater economic collaboration on the part of the Government of Spain and the autonomous communities with the 15 cities of the Group.
Specifically, Carlos García, when asked by journalists, valued the current collaboration with the central Executive, although he pointed out that “we want to continue expanding this collaboration and we would like it to translate into a greater contribution of funds through any line of funds Europeans” to, for example, “advance in the elaboration and approval of the management plans” Unesco, which “we are going to transfer in a next meeting”, he announced. In addition, he is also going to be asked that “for any regulatory reform that refers to equity, he has the opinion of the Group.”
As for the autonomous communities, the Group’s president described the relationship as “improvable”. “I think it is one of our pending issues that we are going to work on in the future, to address collaboration formulas, but it would be good if the communities could establish a special line of economic collaboration with our cities,” he explained, since “we have some higher expenses than other cities and a greater responsibility and that requires a lot of investment”, he pointed out.
This is how García Carbayo declared himself after the celebration of the Assembly of the Group of World Heritage Cities, which took place yesterday in the old convent of Santo Domingo de La Laguna, a city that welcomed the mayors of the 15 cities recognized by UNESCO to address joint projects for the conservation, enhancement and tourism promotion of their heritage sites.
The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, in his double capacity as host of the event and vice president of the Group, valued that hosting this Assembly “is a source of pride and satisfaction, placing La Laguna as the epicenter of the jewels that our country has ”; and he highlighted the “strength” of the Group and its “resolute support for the conservation of the World Heritage Site”.
The president of the Group thanked the mayor for the “warm welcome” and the “perfect organization of this Assembly”, and transferred some of the agreements approved yesterday for the coming months, as well as “our solidarity with the Ukrainian people and our rejection of the invasion ”.
Thus, in terms of tourism, he announced that “the Heritage cities are going to be part of the great intelligent platform of destinations that the Ministry of Tourism is promoting, with an investment of close to 130 million, coming from the European resilience funds. A platform that will place Spain, and our cities, at the forefront of tourist countries, with a commitment to digitization that will improve our competitiveness”.
Likewise, he stated that “we have also finalized the schedule for the next national and international promotion actions this year”; as well as that “we are going to reactivate the advertising campaign, this year we will have about 240,000 euros and we are going to focus it on the national market”, in which “we believe that it is where we must place greater emphasis at this time”.
Culture
Regarding culture, Carlos García announced that “we are going to go to Santiago de Compostela on May 13 and 14 to celebrate the next Assembly, on the occasion of the Holy Year of Compostela”, as well as that “we are going to resume the Circuit of Races Cities Patrimony, which had to be suspended due to the pandemic.” In addition, “we are already working on the preparation of the fifth edition of the Heritage Night 2022, which will take place on September 17 simultaneously in the 15 cities”. And in autumn the Chamber Music Cycle will be “organized again with the collaboration of the Reina Sofía School of Music” and, “as a prelude, in July the School will offer a very special concert in Salamanca, which will be broadcast live by TVE 2”.
Meanwhile, in terms of heritage, “next April 19, in Úbeda, we are going to celebrate the World Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals Information Day, coordinated by Paradores”; and announced the “celebration in Mérida of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention signed in Paris in 1972, which will be a first-rate event and will include the participation of the 49 Spanish properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. ”.
On the other hand, questioned by journalists, he stated that at this time “none” of the 15 Spanish cities “is in danger” of losing the UNESCO title, as well as that “it would be very difficult to find another Spanish city that is in a position to meet those requirements” to join the Group.
