The Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosana Morillo, has shown her full support for the candidacy of the Ribeira Sacra to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. He did so in an act, this morning, together with the mayors of this Galician region that includes the banks of the rivers Cabe, Sil and Miño, south of Lugo and north of Ourense.
The event was also attended by the Government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco Lobeiras; the Government subdelegate in Lugo, María Isabel Rodríguez López; and the Government subdelegate in Ourense, Emilio González Afonso.
Rosana Morillo stressed that Ribeira Sacra’s candidacy for UNESCO World Heritage “is the definitive impulse for the seasonalization and diversification of tourism in Galicia”, recalling that these are objectives aligned with the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain, endowed with 3.4 billion euros for the modernization and competitiveness of the tourism sector in Spain.
Likewise, the Secretary of State has reaffirmed her commitment to the autonomous community, reiterating that “we make ourselves available to all Galician institutions to let everyone know that this wonderful region is much more than the Camino de Santiago”.
The candidacy will be evaluated by UNESCO in 2026
The Historical Heritage Council adopted on April 5 the decision by which the Cultural Landscape of the Water of the Ribeira Sacra will be the Spanish candidacy to enter the list of World Heritage of UNESCO. All the autonomous communities participated in the decision.
The candidacy has been elaborated under an approach that highlights as an exceptional value the relationship between the territory and its inhabitants. It will be presented to the international body in February 2025 and its inclusion will be discussed by the UNESCO evaluation committee in 2026.
It should be remembered that this place, which is also listed as a Biosphere Reserve, was already a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage in 2019. This year the candidacy has been resumed with this new value proposition.
Investments in the Ribeira Sacra
The support of the Secretary of State for Tourism for the candidacy of the Ribeira Sacra comes in the context of an institutional trip organized by the Government Delegation in Galicia so that the head of tourism management in Spain knew first-hand the status of the projects financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government.
In this context, the Secretary of State visited this morning the Parador de Santo Estevo, where she met with mayors of the region. Regardless of the impetus for the candidacy of the Ribeira Sacra, Morillo has reviewed the status of the Tourism Sustainability plans in this destination. These are two plans whose investment amounts to 4 million euros and has an impact on 25 municipalities in the region, which includes the provinces of Lugo and Ourense.
In addition, the Ribeira Sacra is also the subject of investments of the Xacobeo Plan and the Experiences Tourism Spain program, the latter as beneficiary of the Coastal and River Cruise Network Project of the Sustainable Nautical Destinations of Spain, which will be implemented in ten autonomous communities and has a total budget of almost 2 million euros.
Within the investment of 1.4 million from the Xacobeo Plan, executed by the Xunta, the Portuguese municipalities of Quiroga, A Pobra do Brollón, Ribas de Sil, O Saviñao, Belesar and Chantada benefit.
200 million euros of investment in Galicia
The Ministry of Industry and Tourism, through this plan, has invested in the last four years about 200 million euros in Galicia for the transformation of tourism towards a more sustainable, digital and resilient model, as well as for the modernization of tourism companies in the community. One in two concellos will benefit from this investment.
Morillo began his trip, yesterday Thursday, in the town of Betanzos, where he visited the Park of O Pasatempo to check the progress of the restoration works of the monument. He also visited the Old Town of Betanzos, which is carrying out a revitalization project to turn this destination into a benchmark for cultural tourism.
The Secretary of State has also accompanied the president of the Provincial Council of A Coruña, Valentín González, in the presentation of the tourism plans managed by the provincial institution. These are five tourist sustainability plans in destination that benefit 24 municipalities and whose investment amounts to about 8 million euros.
Improvements in six Tourism Paradores of the region
Finally, Morillo has also visited the works that Turespaña executes in the Parador de Santiago. It is a rehabilitation project of 10.5 million euros that is part of the set of patrimonial improvement and energy efficiency actions in paradores declared BIC and is financed with Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
In Galicia, the Government promotes actions for more than 35 million euros through the Recovery Plan and the Strategic Plan 2023-2026 of Paradores de Turismo de España. This investment benefits six establishments of the Paradores network in Galicia: Hostal dos Reis Católica (Santiago de Compostela), Baiona, Ferrol, Vilalba, Monforte and Santo Estevo.