La Laguna has been awarded the bronze medal in the third edition of the European Cities of Inclusion and Diversity Award 2024. This prestigious award, given by the European Commission, aims to promote inclusion and create societies free from discrimination.
The city of Tenerife has been acknowledged in the category of municipalities with over 50,000 residents for its outstanding initiatives that foster diversity and inclusion across various aspects such as gender, race or ethnicity, religion, disability, age, and LGBTIQ equality. This information was reported by the local authorities in a press release.
La Laguna competed in its category against cities like Zagreb (Croatia), which emerged as the winner, Warsaw (Poland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Piraeus (Greece), Turin (Italy), Växjö Kommun (Sweden), Funchal and Almada (Portugal).
In the category of municipalities with less than 50,000 residents, the town of Corbetta in Italy secured the first place. Mirando de Ebro (Burgos) and Casares (Málaga) received the silver and bronze medals respectively.
This recognition in the European Cities of Inclusion and Diversity Award 2024 follows La Laguna’s recent win of the first prize in the Access City Award, another prestigious accolade from the European Union that recognises universal accessibility and disability policies.
La Laguna was also a nominee in the special category for safe places for women and those focusing on gender-based violence, competing against ten other European cities. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, emerged as the winner in this category.
A delegation from the city, consisting of the Councillor for Social Welfare and Quality of Life, María Cruz, and the Coordinator of the Disability and Dependency Department, Pilar Herrero, accepted the award at the ceremony held in Brussels.
Mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, expressed his joy at “this new international recognition of the social policies we have been implementing at the city council. It demonstrates that our collaboration with third sector entities is yielding positive results in the integration and support of those in need.”
