Ifema Fair and Exhibition Site has hosted today, on the second day of Fitur tourism fair, the presentation of El legado andalusí foundation. This institution, which has a history of more than 20 years, is characterized by offering activities in favour of the dissemination and preservation of the cultural and artistic heritage of al-Andalus.
The event was chaired by the director of the Foundation, Mrs. María de la Concepción de Santa Ana Fernández, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Andalusian Government, Mr. Manuel Alejandro Cardenete Flores and the Delegate of the Regional Government of Andalusia in Madrid, Mr. Vicente Azpitarte Pérez, as well as other personalities from the province of Granada and the Regional Government of Andalusia.
In her speech, De Santa Ana has contextualized the enormous importance of cultural Routes and Itineraries, hallmark of this project: “the itineraries run through the indelible mark that eight centuries of shared history have left in our traditions and serve as a cultural bridge between the East and the West, favouring the relations with the Arab, Mediterranean and Ibero-American countries”. These itineraries do not only work in favour of quality cultural tourism, as Santa Ana has recalled, they also “fight depopulation and work to create sustainable infrastructures according to environmental criteria”.
It should be recalled that the Foundation El legado andalusí leads the European Best Med project of the Interreg Med program, that aims to propose feasible solutions to the problem of tourist seasonality in the Mediterranean area.
In addition, the Foundation has featured the new website legadoandalusi.es, a platform that allows the visitor to see on any mobile device, the work that the foundation is undertaking through publications, conferences, scientific workshops, events, exhibitions and seminars and lets him/ her to explore into its philosophy, objectives and international projection.
For his part, Mr. Alejandro Cardenete, Deputy Minister of Tourism of Andalusia, has praised the new lines of work of the Foundation that come to reinforce “the great successful project that this institution means for Andalusia and Spain”. He has also highlighted the support that the Government of Change is exerting in favour of the cultural dissemination of Andalusia in Spain and Europe.
Lastly, Mr. Vicente Azpitarte, Delegate of the Andalusian Government in Madrid, took the floor and recalled that: “Andalusia has reached the magic figures of 32.5 million tourists during the last year”. He was also grateful for the work the Foundation is doing “nurturing either outsiders and insiders with cultural activities.”
The event ended by playing a video reviewing the work of the Foundation El legado andalusí, and one of its fundamental pillars, The Routes of El legado andalusí, which is internationally recognized by the Council of Europe as European Cultural Itinerary.
