La Laguna participates in the first General Assembly of Heritage Cities after the confinement

The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, attended the General Assembly of the Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain this Saturday in Baeza, the first to be held after the state of alarm decreed by the covid-19, and which was originally scheduled for March. The mayor also participated in the meeting of the Group’s Executive Committee, to which La Laguna belongs along with Ibiza, Mérida, Salamanca and Cuenca.

“This face-to-face meeting is very important,” said Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, “because, although we have continued to work telematically during the pandemic, in this way we are strengthening our joint work on initiatives in the areas of heritage, culture, tourism and sport, especially at a time when we must overcome the effects of the pandemic together, guaranteeing our status as safe and nearby destinations. The mayor stressed the role “that La Laguna plays in the context of the cities of our country that have exceptional universal value.

The 15 cities that make up the Group have approved a tourism plan aimed at the national market until the end of the year and the reactivation of cultural activities. Likewise, the Group has approved to address a letter to the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, to claim that they can use the surplus of the city councils, given the reality of these cities, which have extraordinary expenses to preserve their historical centers.

The Assembly has also approved the activation of a tourism plan aimed at the national market until the end of the year, and from January the campaign for the international market will be relaunched by Turespaña.

The Group’s agreements also include dedicating the Ministry of Tourism’s nominative grant to a post-covid-19 strategic plan and another grant from the Ministry of Culture to safety protocols in historic centres, to improve the World Heritage signage of the 15 cities and to new tourist maps adapted to UNESCO regulations and recommendations.

Likewise, within the framework of this meeting, the third edition of the Heritage Night was presented on Saturday 12 September, simultaneously in the 15 Heritage Cities. The mayors concluded that this event is feasible in compliance with a strict safety protocol and that it can symbolize the will to go up and contribute to the economic, tourist and social reactivation of the cities. In this line, all the protocols marked by the health authorities will be followed, which include the obligatory use of masks, control of gauges, restricted areas and control of the flow in the spaces, among other measures.

On Heritage Night, the 15 cities will open the doors of their most emblematic monuments at night and bring their historic centres to life by filling them with cultural and leisure activities. It will be structured in three common sections: open doors of monuments and cultural spaces (Open Heritage section); a great cultural and leisure offer that will be distributed in their historical centres (Live Heritage section); and the prominence of dance and contemporary performing arts (Heritage Stage section). For the first time, the event has the official support of UNESCO and the programme will be broadcast online to the entire world from the UNESCO website and the World Heritage associations of France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

The Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018, aims to act jointly in the conservation, enhancement and tourist promotion of the 15 Spanish cities recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage: Alcalá de Henares, Ávila, Baeza, Cáceres, Córdoba, Cuenca, Ibiza, Mérida, Salamanca, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Tarragona, Toledo and Úbeda.