The president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, met on Tuesday with Spain’s ambassador to UNESCO, Miquel Iceta, and the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, to present the Alliance of Cultural Landscapes and Related Sites, an organization chaired by the Serra de Tramuntana.
Both meetings took place in Paris, where UNESCO is headquartered, and were also attended by the island’s Director of Coordination, Sandra Morell, and the Secretary General of the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape Alliance, María del Pozo, according to a press release issued by the island’s authorities.
President Galmés highlighted the vital role of the Cultural Landscapes Alliance in the preservation and promotion of UNESCO World Heritage landscapes, and outlined the strategic projects and activities it will carry out in the coming months.
The president of the Council of Mallorca has announced that the Alliance of Cultural Landscapes has taken a new step forward with its recent inclusion in the UNESCO Network of Associations, a development that means it will now carry the organization’s seal.
“It is a prestigious international accreditation that strengthens the credibility, profile, and influence of the Cultural Landscapes Alliance, objectives we set at the beginning of this parliamentary term,” said Galmés.
According to the island’s president, this also consolidates Mallorca’s leadership, as it is during this term that the Alliance has received a decisive boost, and demonstrates our commitment to the Serra de Tramuntana and the protection of the region.
President Galmés also conveyed to the Spanish Ambassador to UNESCO the Alliance’s desire to collaborate with the World Heritage Center and the Spanish Embassy to carry out projects of mutual interest and increase global awareness of cultural landscapes, including the Serra de Tramuntana.
In fact, the Spanish Government’s Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs have drafted a letter of support for the Alliance of Cultural Landscapes to attend as an observer at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting; this year’s meeting will be held in Busan, South Korea.
The Alliance of Cultural Landscapes and Related Sites brings together 14 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Spain, Andorra, and Portugal, and is expected to expand further this year with the addition of other member territories.
La Serra de Tramuntana was re-elected president last year at the Extraordinary General Assembly held at the Alhambra in Granada, a fact that reaffirms the Council of Mallorca’s commitment to the Alliance of Cultural Landscapes.
15th anniversary of the Serra de Tramuntana World Heritage
The international launch of the Cultural Landscapes Alliance coincides with the 15th anniversary of the declaration of the Serra de Tramuntana as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which will be commemorated on June 29, an occasion the Council of Mallorca will take advantage of to highlight the values that earned it this distinction.
President Galmés took advantage of his meetings in Paris to explain that the institution has presented the upcoming Serra bill and that, during this legislative term, the Serra de Tramuntana Consortium’s budget has increased by 109 percent.
