The municipality of San Cristóbal de La Laguna has been preselected by the European Commission as a finalist for the 2024 European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award, in the category of territories with over 50,000 inhabitants. The award, which is also being contested by 14 other European cities, will be presented on the 25th in Brussels. La Laguna will be the sole representative of Canary Islands in this European Commission finalist preselection and one of the four national representatives chosen by the jury, alongside Miranda de Ebro (Burgos), Casares (Málaga) and Centelles (Barcelona).
In addition to competing for the award in the category of over 50,000 inhabitants, the municipality is also in the preselection for the category of the safest towns for women that pay special attention to gender violence.
This announcement comes just four months after the town won the first prize at the Access City Award, another distinction from the European Union, which focuses on universal accessibility and disability. On this occasion, La Laguna was recognised ahead of European cities such as Lodz (Poland), Saint-Quentin (France), South Dublin County (Ireland) and Tübingen (Germany).
The City Council of La Laguna announced earlier this year that the €150,000 from the first prize of the Access City Award will be invested in various accessibility improvements for public facilities that provide services in the municipality.
The Mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, celebrated this news as “a new recognition of the work that the City Council has been carrying out in recent years to combat social inequalities, give voice and importance to the various social groups involved, and create safe environments free from any form of discrimination”.
According to the councillor for Social Welfare and Quality of Life in La Laguna, María Cruz, La Laguna has become “a benchmark for other territories” due to “important measures” such as the creation and consolidation of the Women’s Council and the Disability Council, in which a multitude of entities and organizations are represented. She also noted that work is being done on different action plans adapted to the current reality, aligning the goals in terms of equality and disability with the challenges brought by the citizens themselves.
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Another of the initiatives taken into account for these awards is the establishment of violet (providing advice to women who experience harassment or gender-based violence) and orange (for people with disabilities) points in the university town.
