The Plenary of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has unanimously approved joining the Spanish Network of Capitals of Culture, an initiative aimed at promoting culture as a driver of urban development and social cohesion.
The Plenary of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria gave the green light this Friday, in its ordinary session of July, to the incorporation of the Gran Canaria capital into the Spanish Network of Capitals of Culture. The proposal, presented by the councillor for the Area of Security, Coexistence and Culture, Josué Íñiguez, was passed with the unanimous support of all municipal groups.
The Spanish Network of Capitals of Culture, established under Article 44 of the Statutes of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), brings together local governments that want to promote a strategic model of cultural development. The aim is to strengthen territorial cooperation and highlight the municipal commitment to culture, as municipal sources explained after the session.
Councillor Josué Íñiguez defended the importance of this membership during the debate, stating that “culture is the greatest possible driver of development for Spanish cities.” In this regard, he emphasised the need to “promote processes of institutional collaboration and among the different municipalities in the country.”
Joining this network will allow Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to participate in joint strategies with the Ministry of Culture and with European institutions, especially in initiatives such as the European Capital of Culture. Additionally, it will help generate a structural cultural legacy that contributes to the sustainable development of the city.
Among the network's objectives are to defend and strengthen the role of cities in the cultural sphere, promote the exchange of experiences among local entities, enhance the planning of cultural policies, and drive common strategies in cultural innovation, participatory governance, and urban culture.
For Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, this membership represents another step in the cultural strategy already being developed by the City Council. According to the approved agreement, it will strengthen the local cultural ecosystem through the promotion of culture, citizen participation, and institutional cooperation, as well as improve the national and international projection of the Gran Canaria capital.
With the approval of this agreement, the City Council commits to actively participate in the network, comply with the obligations, and exercise the rights established by its operating rules. The membership will be formally communicated to the FEMP in accordance with the prescribed procedures.
This decision comes at a time when the city reinforces its commitment to culture as a tool for urban transformation. In recent years, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has promoted initiatives such as the rehabilitation of performance spaces and the programming of significant cultural events, although the Culture department insists that the network will provide a more stable framework for cooperation with other Spanish cities.
The Spanish Network of Capitals of Culture operates as a forum for collaboration among municipalities that share similar concerns. For the Gran Canaria capital, being part of this network means being able to exchange experiences with other cities that have developed successful cultural projects, as well as accessing potential European funding avenues related to culture.
The next step will be the official communication of the membership to the FEMP, which must ratify the incorporation. From there, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will be able to participate in the assemblies and working groups of the network, where the common strategic lines for the coming years will be defined.
The decision of the Plenary has been well received by the cultural groups in the city, who see this membership as an opportunity to give greater visibility to their proposals and to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors. However, the City Council reminds that the practical effects will be felt gradually, as joint projects are concretised.
The Gran Canaria capital thus joins a network that already includes other Spanish cities with a notable cultural trajectory. Participation in such networks has become a common tool for municipalities seeking to position culture as a central axis of their public policies in recent years.
With this membership, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria strengthens its commitment to culture as a driver of urban development, social cohesion, and innovation, an approach that the municipal government team has been advocating in recent terms and which now acquires a broader dimension thanks to collaboration with other Spanish cities.
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