Granada bidding to be European Capital of Culture 2031

Granada's bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2031 will be presented to the Ministry of Culture in the second half of December and not in the first half of the month, as had been announced. "It will be a few days before the 28th, when the call expires," Councillor Juan Ramón Ferreira said on Tuesday 9 December, who clarified that the sixty-page text has been finalised. "At the moment we are in the final stages of layout, illustration and translation into English," he said.

After the 28 December deadline, there are a series of phases that must be fulfilled throughout 2026 with the idea that the Spanish finalist will be revealed by the end of next year. Once the bid has been registered with the Ministry of Culture, which is in charge of organising the competition in Spain, the next step will be for Granada to send a delegation to Madrid towards the end of January or early February. Among the ten people that will make up the delegation will be mayor of Granada Marifrán Carazo and the director of Granada 2031, Pilar Tassara.

The first thirty minutes will be the presentation of the Granada programme. Eleven minutes will be devoted to the screening of the animated short film 'Elvira and the treasure', directed by Manuel Sicilia. Then the twelve independent specialists who are to decide which city will be the Capital of Culture, ten appointed by the European Union and two by the Ministry, will ask the questions they deem appropriate for an hour.

After that the group of experts will agree on a shortlist of applicants, although how many will be on the list is unclear. In the case of Belgium, there were three and in France, four. In any case, the BOE states that the resolution will be adopted "by consensus of the members present". If no such agreement is reached, a vote by show of hands will be taken. In the event of a tie, the president will have the casting vote.

If Granada is chosen, the city will move on to a second stage. The experts will give a series of recommendations to be implemented in the revision of the bid and there will be a further meeting with the panel. The Granada delegation will have forty-five minutes to sell its strengths, while the question and answer session will last for ninety minutes.

Then there will be a final round with a similar procedure when the panel must agree. If there is no such agreement, there will be a first ballot to be won by a simple majority. In case of a tie, there could be up to three more before the president decides. Before the end of 2026, the European Capital of Culture for 2031 will be revealed.