The Diplomat
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) has signed an agreement with the Order of Augustinian Recollects for the transfer of the Convent of Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria as the future headquarters of the future Cultural Center of Spain in Bogota (CCEB).
The agreement was signed yesterday by the director of the AECID, Antón Leis, and the prior provincial of the Order, Fray José David Niño Gómez, who were accompanied by the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia Lopez; the vice minister of Multilateral Affairs of Colombia, Laura Gil; the vice minister of Regional Development and Patrimony, Adriana Molano; and the ambassador of Spain in Colombia, Joaquín de Arístegui.
The agreement foresees the temporary assignment of the building under the formula of a gratuitous bailment, that is to say, on loan for its use and enjoyment by the AECID, which will be in charge of the restoration and adaptation of the spaces. According to the Agency, the Colombian Ministry of Culture and the Mayor’s Office of Bogota “consider of special interest the projects being developed by the Spanish Embassy in the country in the field of cultural cooperation for development”. Likewise, “the conservation and enhancement of this important historic building located in the traditional center of the city will allow its sustained reuse in the service of society”.
Comprising the whole of the Cloister of San Nicolás de Tolentino, the convent (a colonial building constructed in the 17th century) occupies a usable area of 5,400 square meters divided into two spaces and framed, each of them, by two-story cloisters that communicate with each other. In addition to its quality and size, it is located in the heart of the historic center, in an area where several of the city’s main cultural centers, universities, emblematic monuments, several ministries and the Presidential Palace of Nariño are located.
The signing of this agreement marks the culmination of efforts begun in 2007 to provide the capital of Colombia with a Spanish Cooperation Cultural Center, an initiative interrupted by the economic crisis and finally crystallized today after negotiations resumed by the Embassy of Spain in Colombia in 2019.
The Network of Spanish Cultural Centers abroad is currently made up of a total of 18 centers located in 16 countries in Latin America and Africa. Through these centers, which receive around one million visitors annually, Spanish Cooperation develops AECID’s cultural and scientific cooperation policy, strengthens cultural action as a factor for development and supports cultural promotion and action abroad.
“The creation of this new CCE will be a great step forward in strengthening the work of cultural promotion and cooperation currently carried out by Spanish Cooperation in the country through its Technical Cooperation Office, the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Cartagena de Indias and the Spanish Embassy in Colombia through its Department of Culture,” said the AECID.
