The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday approved a Royal Decree creating and regulating the National Commission for the candidacy of Malaga as host of the International Exposition of 2027, which will be dedicated to The Urban Age: towards the sustainable city.
The Exposition is “a proposal for reflection on the challenge of making demographic growth and urban development compatible with environmental protection and the adoption of innovative solutions that guarantee an improvement in the quality of life of city residents,” said the Executive. “This proposal ties in with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, which the Government of Spain shares,” it added.
The city of Malaga, supported by the Junta de Andalucía and the Provincial Council, had expressed its aspiration to host the Expo in May 2019, through Mayor Francisco de la Torre. On November 26, 2021, the presentation of the candidacy was agreed and the Council of Ministers of last December 14 approved the preparation of the candidacy and its timely submission to the International Exhibitions Bureau (Bureau International des Expositions, BIE), based in Paris, as well as the creation of a National Commission to coordinate all actions aimed at the success of Malaga’s candidacy.
The National Commission, directly attached to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, will be responsible for carrying out the necessary preparatory activities for the presentation of the candidacy to the International Exhibitions Bureau. It will also be in charge of promoting the Malaga campaign, maintaining the necessary relations with the BIE, articulating the participation of all public administrations in the preparation of Expo Malaga 2027 and seeking the collaboration of the private sector, as well as other actors when deemed appropriate. The constitution and operation of the National Commission will not entail any increase in public expenditure. All the positions will be honorary and will not receive any remuneration, except, where appropriate, the indemnities that correspond to them by reason of service.
So far, the cities of Bloomington (Minnesota, USA), Phuket (Thailand) and Belgrade (capital of Serbia) have already presented their candidatures, while Malaga is still waiting for Spain to do the same within the deadline, which expires this Friday, January 28th at 17:00 hours. The vote for the venue of Expo 27, in which all 170 BIE member states will participate, could be held in the last quarter of 2022.
