interview
The city of Malaga, candidate for the European Capital of Culture 2016 title, faces the first ‘cut’ in October
15.06.10 - 12:13 -
Javier Ferrer. Promoting Malaga as a multi-cultural city. R.S.
The city of Malaga is aiming to be European Capital of Culture 2016, competing against fourteen other Spanish cities. Javier Ferrer Morató, manager of the Malaga 2016 Foundation, is confident that the city will get past the first cut in October and thinks that Malaga’s candidacy has a good chance of beating all the other candidate cities to win the title. It is all about participation, he says, and he is calling on everybody in the province to get involved.
What are Malaga’s advantages in its bid to be cultural capital?
The basic pillars of the bid are all the cultural activities we can offer, not only in the city but all over the province: there are so many things going on in Antequera, Marbella, Ronda, Vélez-Málaga... and we have the advantage of already being a multicultural society. Only recently we had a very successful multicultural fair in the park here in Malaga and that was by no means the only event of its kind. We want to include cultural manifestations from the rest of the province, and also bring them here to the city.
What else will be taken into account?
The infrastructure is important, because people have to be able to get to the city and have somewhere to stay while they explore the culture! We already have the airport and other excellent connections with the rest of Europe, plenty of accommodation, and any number of cultural centres - some of the other candidate cities are having to put these things in place now.
If Malaga wins the title, what benefits will it bring?
At the moment, this area is seen as a destination for sun and sea holidays, although in recent years Malaga has made inroads as a cultural destination too. Establishing it as a major capital city for culture would have enormous benefits: it would mean thousands more visitors, new jobs, a boost to the economy... We have been looking at the example of Liverpool - another port city - which has been transformed through being European Capital of Culture. Liverpool calculated that as a direct result of 2008 and over the course of five years, it attracted almost 10 million more visitors.
How does Malaga’s candidacy compare with the other Spanish cities?
I really think that ours is the best all-round candidacy. Cordoba, for example, is more monumental and there are others as well, like Cáceres, which are World Heritage cities, but Malaga is not lacking in monuments and museums and other cultural sites, and it also has the infrastructure. The involvement of the city, of its people, is also paramount, and in Malaga cultural manifestations are not from the top down, they are led by the people, they are participatory.
What can our readers do?
Foreign residents in Malaga already take part in many of the cultural events and appreciate the multi-cultural aspects of the area, so I would ask them to come to Malaga and see all that the city offers. And of course, let us know their ideas, how they would like to participate, just like everyone else in Malaga.
