Speech by President of the Government at event held with mayors of Spanish World Heritage Cities

Madrid

Mr Minister, Madam Mayor of Cordoba and President of the Group, mayors, Mr President of IFEMA, representatives of the media, dear friends,

I think that many important things have been said here, and have been very well put, and hence I am left to close off this event, rather than repeating some of the things that we have already heard said here today.

At any event, I would like to start my speech by saying what an honour it is to be here today and I would like to congratulate all the business owners in the Spanish tourism sector, the more than 2 million people who work in our tourism sector and also the representatives of the different public authorities that collaborate to ensure the tourism sector continues to work as well as it does and means what it does to our country.

I have listened closely to the words of the President and Mayor of Cordoba and her reasoned arguments. I will do whatever is in my hands to try and cater for your needs because, I repeat, I believe that this is a just cause.

Tourism accounts for more than 10% of Spain's Gross Domestic Product and, as I just mentioned, more than 2 million people work in this sector which, moreover, is increasingly competitive, where increased efforts are being made all round, which is increasingly innovative and which seeks to continually improve, which is the best way to maintain the position we have at this time in the world.

This year, for the first time in a long time, Spain has risen to second place in the world ranking in terms of the number of inbound tourists, ahead of the United States, and behind only our neighbour - France. More than 82 million people have visited Spain. They have spent close on 90 billion euros, which is no mean figure, and I believe that this is a great spur for everyone to continue working hard in the future.

I wanted to be here today because tourism is synonymous with many things - many people come here for the sun and beach, others for different reasons - the gastronomy, etc., but tourism is also synonymous with culture. Spain, as we were reminded of here, is the third ranked leading global power in terms of heritage - on this issue it will be very difficult to get further ahead, but we will also try to - and there are now 15 World Heritage Cities.

I would like to make a very brief comment about these 15 cities, as well as to congratulate their mayors because it is assuredly a very great honour and must be a source of tremendous satisfaction, despite the unavoidable problems that all politicians face when they must govern, although it must be a great honour to be the mayor of such cities as:

• Alcalá de Henares, a university city that boasts language, literature and heritage.
• Ávila, with the best preserved city wall of mediaeval Spain.
• Baeza, an early example of civil architecture and renaissance urbanism of 16th Century Spain.
• Cáceres, which tells our history. A melting pot of Almohads, Jews, Portuguese and Castilian Spanish in the streets of this monumental city.
• Córdoba, one of the oldest cities in Europe, the capital of the world at one time, which hosts an extraordinary symbiosis of East and West.
• Cuenca, which has domesticated crags and heights with an unprecedented architecture of houses hanging out into the abyss.
• Ibiza, founded by the Phoenicians, is the home to artistic, historical and archaeological heritage that invites you to enjoy your stay there.
• Mérida, founded by Emeriti soldiers of the Roman Army, calls us to bear witness to its classical theatre.
• Salamanca. An outstanding Spanish Renaissance city, a city of knowledge and wisdom, which is today a magnet for young university students that visit us.
• San Cristóbal de la Laguna, designed with maritime navigation instruments and twine, as an Atlantic watchtower for Spain's American exploits.
• Santiago de Compostela, the city where I was born. Santiago had to have some flaw, but it is the destination for spiritual and cultural pilgrimages, and the first cultural route, certified back in 1987 by the Council of Europe, was St James' Way [Camino de Santiago].
• Segovia, noteworthy for its high Roman aqueduct that crosses over its mediaeval streets.
• Tarragona. The first Roman city in Hispania maintains the hallmarks of the ancient Tarraconiensis.
• Toledo, a labyrinth of a living and shared history, which has left us an inheritance of co-existence and tolerance of its three cultures.
• Úbeda, an island of great historical wealth in an ocean of olive groves.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, all of this and many more things make up this great nation called Spain; a nation which some people are sometimes tempted to claim that things are not going so well or where they would like things to go better, but there are many things that all us Spaniards, as such, can precisely feel proud of in our nation. And these 15 cities contribute a great deal to Spain being what it is - a great nation, and to all of us continuing to work on improving it in the future.

Thank you very much.

Non official translation