The Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain (GCPHE), chaired by La Laguna, and the Association of Mexican World Heritage Cities (ANCMPM) will hold a meeting this Thursday in the town of Xochimilco, in Mexico City, to establish lines of work and collaboration in the defence, recovery, conservation and dissemination of the historical and cultural heritage of the cities of both countries recognised by UNESCO for their Outstanding Universal Value.
The president of the Heritage Cities and mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, is travelling to Mexico this Monday with a delegation of the Group to hold a working meeting with the municipal president of San Luis Potosí and president of the ANCMPM, Daniela Cid González, together with other representatives of this organisation. During the visit, which will take place at the Michmani Ecotourism Centre, both organisations will present examples of habitability cases in the historic centres of their respective countries.
Luis Yeray Gutiérrez underlines the relevance of this alliance, and recalls that one of the objectives of the GCPHE, expressed in the 30th anniversary manifesto, is “to promote its international dimension, through cooperation agreements with entities and associations that bring together cities in other countries included in the Unesco List, with similar aims in the conservation and defence of historical heritage”. Luis Yeray Gutiérrez also wanted to highlight the significance of the fact that his last international trip as president of the Group of Heritage Cities is to hold a meeting of these characteristics.
In this sense, the Mayor of La Laguna has indicated that “the Heritage Cities of Spain and Mexico have, each with its specific particularities, common problems and challenges, and close international collaboration will help us to advance in the search for global solutions to situations such as the risk of gentrification of historic centres, the difficulties in guaranteeing full accessibility, the need to advance in technological solutions for the integral administration of the historic centres, the need to improve the quality of life of the historic centres, and the need to improve the quality of life of the historic centres,” he added,the need to advance in technological solutions for the integrated management of heritage or in the development of urban strategies that are committed to cultural and environmental heritage”.
Mexico is the fourth country in terms of the number of UNESCO World Heritage cities, behind only Italy, Spain and France. A quarter of the world heritage cities in the Americas are located in Mexico, making it the number one country in the Americas. In 1996, the municipal presidents of the Mexican World Heritage Cities formed the National Association of Mexican World Heritage Cities in Zacatecas.
“The Group of Spanish Heritage Cities and the Association of Mexican Cities have had a parallel trajectory for almost thirty years”, considers Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, “so that the sharing of our realities and the progress achieved in these three decades will be of great help to us to continue working in the defence of assets that, as the Unesco recognition states, belong to all humanity”.
Among the objectives of the ANCMPM are to manage public and private, national and international economic support for works and actions that conserve, improve, disseminate and maintain the cities declared by UNESCO as Cultural Heritage of Humanity; as well as the values of the intangible heritage, the art of the indigenous communities in all the primitive manifestations of their own languages, the uses and customs, crafts and traditions of the pluricultural composition that make up the country.
Its work is structured in three fundamental axes: cultural diffusion; tourism promotion; and the management of resources for the improvement of infrastructure and equipment of the cities, such as signage, illumination of monuments, rescue of squares and gardens, and participation in national and international tourism fairs.
Within the framework of this visit, the Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain will also carry out two actions to present the tourist and cultural offer of the 15 Spanish cities with the Unesco seal to professionals of the sector in Monterrey and Mexico City, in two events that are carried out in collaboration with Turespaña and Paradores. Luis Yeray Gutiérrez will be joined by the President of Paradores, Raquel Sánchez, and the Tourism Counsellor of the Spanish Embassy in Mexico, Julio Villalba. This action is part of the Group’s Operational Plan with both entities.