The Diplomat
The Mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, yesterday asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, for the Ibero-American Summit of 2029 to be held in Seville.
Muñoz made this request during Albares’ participation in a breakfast-colloquium at the Hotel Alfonso XIII, which was attended by representatives of the embassies of the Ibero-American countries.
In his speech at the breakfast, the mayor told the minister of the “suitability” of the 2029 Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Seville in order to “further strengthen” -he said- the current historical, cultural, economic and university relations, with the possibility of also hosting Ibero-American meetings in other areas. “It is also time to deepen our international positioning as the great capital of Andalusia and the third largest city in Spain”, he affirmed.
Muñoz also offered the Royal Pavilion to house a sub-office of the Casa de América, making the building compatible with the museum space planned around the figure of Aníbal González and Architectural Regionalism, which were key to the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. “The Royal Pavilion should become a great space dedicated to Ibero-America and Regionalism”, he emphasised.
The Mayor also took the opportunity to ask the Government to declare the commemoration of the centenary of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition an Event of Special Interest. “It is time to write the history of 21st century Seville with the same transforming and innovative capacity that we owe to the Seville of 1929, of the years of modernity, and of 1992,” he said.
Albares showed his support for the requests made by the Mayor and commented that he would include them in the agenda to analyse them and put them into action.
In his speech, Albares insisted that Spain, the EU and Latin America must work together to address the socio-economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and the climate emergency and improve the welfare of their citizens.
The minister also assured that Andalusia “will be the Autonomous Community that will host the most Informal Councils” during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2023.
