The city of Cádiz will take over from Mérida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and will become the venue for the second edition of the International Carnival Encounter, which aims to become a network of experiences and synergies between the best and most well-known carnivals in the world.
The mayor of Cádiz, José María González, who participated in the first edition by means of a video, wanted to express his gratitude “to the city of Mérida and to all the towns that make up this network for giving us the baton so that Cádiz is the one who gives continuity to this wonderful project”, as reported by the Consistory in a statement.
“It will be a real honor and a privilege to open the doors of our house to everyone so that they can immerse themselves in our culture and our coplas”, highlighted the councilor, who explained that “for us, Carnival is much more than a party, much more than a cultural expression, much more than folklore. It is one of our mother tongues, just like flamenco. It is part of our way of life and the idiosyncrasy of the men and women of Cadiz”.
“However, we still have a lot to learn from the different carnival expressions that we can find throughout the world”, which is why he considers this meeting “a magnificent opportunity” to “enrich ourselves with both our similarities and our differences, and We can already say that this appointment has been the starting point of something that we hope to maintain and nurture through work over the years”, he added.
For her part, the Councilor for Culture and Festivals, Lola Cazalilla, thanked the “honor of being the next venue for the meeting, for which we are already working”. For this reason, “we have traveled with a technical team, to see the logistical issue and to think about how to transfer it to Cádiz”. In addition, the mayor has confirmed that “we wanted to host the next meeting because we have a debt of knowledge with Latin American carnivals. We are very close to those of Montevideo, but we want to learn from this wonderful diversity. We want this network of carnivals to be established and remain “, he assured.
“a right that must be preserved”
Cazalilla has participated as a speaker at the table together with the director of Economic Development and Tourism of Veracruz, Mario Delfín Vázquez, and the mayor of Mérida, Renán Barrera Concha. During her speech, the mayor pointed out that “Carnival in Cadiz is a citizen’s right and its celebration must be guaranteed by public institutions.”
In addition, he stressed that the Carnival “belongs to the people of Cádiz and does not belong to any government and if we want a healthy democracy we have to preserve it. We are fortunate that cities like ours have it.” In addition, it has influenced the libertarian character of the party, which “is ungovernable and that’s how it should be, it has to have its own identity. It is a politicized expression in its essence, because it has a very important critical component, but it is not instrumentalized by the political parties”.
Regarding the economic aspect, the Councilor for Culture and Festivals has recognized that “it is very difficult to gauge what the total economic return of a Carnival is, because there is a more visible economy but there are also many families that live directly or indirectly from the festival” . At the municipal level, “we make an investment that always pays off, from all perspectives. In Cádiz, Carnival is present all year round and it is moving our economy”, she has concluded.
Next, Lola Cazalilla has also participated in the dialogue table ‘The role of the Government, private initiative and civil society in the Carnival’. She has shared space with Mateo Grazzi, senior specialist in the Division of Competitiveness, Technology and Innovation at the Inter-American Development Bank (USA); Diana Acosta, Secretary of Culture and Heritage of the Department of the Atlantic (Colombia), and Oscar Cambranes Basulto, Executive Secretary of the Permanent Committee of the Mérida Carnival, among others.
In his speech, he pointed out that the key for Cádiz in relation to Carnival “is in the orange economy, because we are promoting an activity”. He has highlighted that in the city “there are many groups organized by neighborhoods or clubs that carry out the Carnival and what we do from the City Council is to guarantee that they can celebrate it as they want to celebrate it”.
Europa Press