- The candidacy has just received a report from the International Council of Monuments and Sites and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
- At the institutional meeting in Sober, the subdelegate stressed the importance of cooperation between administrations to achieve international recognition of this territory
- López stressed that the Government promotes “a sustainable and quality tourism model, in line with the values of the Ribeira Sacra”
The deputy delegate of the Government in Lugo, Olimpia López, participated this morning in the institutional meeting on the candidacy of the Ribeira Sacra to World Heritage of UNESCO, held at the Hotel Áurea Palacio de Sober, and convened by the Ministry of Culture, Language and Youth. The meeting was also attended by the deputy delegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos.
The meeting was held in order to analyze in detail the assessments contained in the report of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (Icomos) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). There, the subdelegate reiterated the support of the Government of Spain for the candidacy of the Ribeira Sacra, a project that qualified as strategic for its ability to reinforce the international projection of Galicia and promote a development model based on the protection of heritage, cultural identity of the territory and the landscape.
Olimpia López stressed that the Ribeira Sacra “brings together exceptional values from the cultural, landscape and historical point of view, resulting from the secular relationship between the territory and the people who inhabit it, which made possible a unique landscape marked by viticulture and the natural richness of the canyons of the Sil and the Miño”.
The deputy delegate also stressed that “institutional collaboration is essential to consolidate a solid and rigorous candidacy, capable of achieving the recognition of UNESCO”. In this sense, he valued the joint work of the administrations and the agents of the territory to promote this common project.
At the end of next July, the Government of Spain will defend the candidacy before the meeting of the 48th World Heritage Committee in South Korea. Olimpia López expressed her confidence that recognition as a World Heritage Site would be a fact, “which would strengthen the international visibility of this territory and its enormous patrimonial value.”
He also recalled that the Government is promoting a more sustainable, diversified and value-added tourism model in Galicia, in line with the principles that represent Ribeira Sacra and that contributes to generating economic opportunities, employment and territorial cohesion.