The Teatro Leal hosted the inaugural event of the II International Campus of La Laguna, focused on democracy and human rights, with the participation of former minister Ana Palacio, the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, and the president of the National Court, Juan Manuel Fernández.
The II International Campus of La Laguna has begun its academic programme with an inaugural event that brought together three key figures from the Spanish legal and political landscape at the Teatro Leal. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ana Palacio; the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo; and the president of the National Court, Juan Manuel Fernández, were responsible for opening the sessions, dedicated to analysing the pillars and challenges of contemporary democracy.
The event was attended by the mayor of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez; the rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco Javier García; and the president of the CajaCanarias Foundation, Humberto Orán, as representatives of the entities promoting the initiative. In his speech, the mayor emphasised that the campus was created to respond to the major current challenges. “Today the Campus positions us as an example of collaboration for the development of the city and humanity,” he stated. Gutiérrez added that La Laguna wants to “continue being a city faithful to its history, linked to thought, the pursuit of knowledge, debate and the exchange of ideas.”
For his part, the rector of ULL, Francisco Javier García, highlighted the bond between the chair and the city, which “could not have been closer and more fruitful” and that “has led to the foundations of the current Canarian society being born from this city.” García defined the campus as “a commitment to radical hope in these dark times.”
The president of the CajaCanarias Foundation, Humberto Orán, stressed that “we live in an era of great technological, social and geopolitical changes, so the themes chosen for this edition of the Campus could not be more appropriate.” Orán recalled that the programme shares values such as institutional cooperation, excellence, and openness to the world.
Following the institutional opening, the lectures addressed the foundations of democracy from different perspectives. Juan Manuel Fernández, president of the National Court, delivered the lecture ‘The National Court, Guardian of the Rule of Law’, in which he analysed the need for a strong and independent judiciary. He highlighted the role of the judge as a guarantor of human rights and emphasised the trajectory of the National Court, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary, both in the fight against terrorism and organised crime and in the judicial oversight of the Administration.
Next, former minister Ana Palacio gave the lecture ‘The Rule of Law in a Dislocated World: Rules, Power and Human Dignity at the Multilateral Crossroads’. In it, she dissected the crisis of the multilateral order that emerged after World War II and reflected on the separation between rules and power, and between legality and legitimacy. She positioned the dignity of the person as the ultimate limit of any power.
Ángel Gabilondo closed the presentations with his lecture ‘For Democratic Coexistence: Duties, Obligations and Democratic Rights’. The Ombudsman warned about threats such as polarization, inequality, and selfish individualism. He advocated for the urgency of building a new humanism based on solidarity, knowledge, and civic commitment to sustain a just and inclusive society.
The programme of the II International Campus of La Laguna will continue over the coming days with seminars, round tables, and lectures on democracy, human rights, heritage protection, and artificial intelligence. Among the speakers are the president of the International Organisation for the Protection of Heritage, Mohamed Joudat, and the president of the Social and Ethical Impact Observatory of AI, Idoia Salazar.
In-person places for the courses sold out weeks ago, but it is still possible to follow the training via streaming through the campus website. In total, around twenty activities will take place over four days, aimed at reflecting on the major challenges of contemporary society from an international and multidisciplinary perspective.
The final touch will be provided by music on July 29 at the Teatro Leal, with the concert ‘Islands and Strings’, which will unite the timple of Benito Cabrera with a string quartet from the Las Palmas Symphony Orchestra, merging traditional Canarian roots with European classical music.
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