Zaragoza 2016. European Capital of Culture

CANDIDACY

The European Capital of Culture gives cities the opportunity to organize during a year a cultural programme to show the wealth, diversity and common characteristics of European cultures.

During the last 20 years, from its launching in 1985, the appointment as European Capital of Culture has become a great booster for the cultural and socio-economic development of the organising cities.

A chronological order has been adopted for presenting candidacies to the European Capital of Culture. One Spanish and one Polish city will be selected for the year 2016.

Zaragoza is living a key development moment. The different projects implemented for the Expo, a progressive population increase, and its vital cultural activity make Zaragoza the ideal city to be CULTURAL CAPITAL in 2016.

LINES OF ARGUMENT

  • Goya, as our most universal and representative figure, and symbol of the development of avant-garde and knowledge arts.
  • Buñuel, as the link between Zaragoza and cinema, surrealism, visual arts and alternative movements.
  • Fernando El Católico. In 2016 will be commemorated the 500 years of his death. He was the first prince of the Modern Age and the axis of the bimillenary history of Zaragoza and his relation with Europe.
  • Zaragoza Latina. The Hispanic world in its widest and global sense as a bridge with Latin America, from our historic links to the multicultural reality of the new citizens of Zaragoza.
  • Mudejar. An architectural style characteristic of Aragon that links us to Arab culture.

STRATEGIC LINES

  1. Promote Zaragoza as cultural capital and spread its facilities, artistic heritage and cultural events.
    • Doubling the present number of cultural tourists.
  2. Boost the implementation, in an adequate period and form, of all the public and private facilities planned.
    • "16 for 2016": 16 cultural facilities for 2016
  3. Integrate the architectural heritage and facilities of Zaragoza into its urban framework:
    • Incorporating the historic centre with the new post-Expo/Digital Mile Zaragoza, through the river Ebro as pedestrian-architectural-landscape core.
    • Boosting new pedestrian and mobility axes in agreement with the objectives of the municipal mobility plan.
  4. Take advantage of the cultural, tourist, ludic and transport infrastructures built for the Expo.
    • Planning the Ebro as a new cultural axis joining the historic centre with the new West Side of the city.
  5. Turn culture into and economic and employment booster.
    • Promoting cultural week-end and conference tourism, taking advantage of the existing infrastructures, and stimulating actions with the private sector ( tour operators, religious tourism, cultural events tourists, etc).
    • Boosting new national and international cultural initiatives in order to spread our programmes and potential.
    • Integrating the multiple public-private cultural initiatives and planning them jointly.
  6. Boost a bigger use of our theatres and cultural centres among the citizens of Zaragoza.
    • Increasing domestic cultural use.
  7. Turn Zaragoza into an international cultural referent and a bridge between Europe, Latin America and Africa.
    • Spreading the new post-Expo Zaragoza, taking advantage of our multiculturalism, and proposing our candidacy to the European Union to be a cultural bridge between Europe, Latin America and the North of Africa. The candidacy will also serve to increase our city cohesion.
  8. Boost new technologies and cultural forms.
    • The incorporation of the Digital Mile to the candidacy will allow us to propose new cultural ways and technologies, making youth participation easier.
  9. Link the candidacy to the objectives of a future Strategic Cultural Plan for the city.
    • Launching of the Observatory for Cultural Policies.
  10. Make citizen participation a basic axis of the candidacy.
    • A candidacy resulting from participation, cohesion and consensus.
    • Channelling an experienced, organised and available volunteers team.