The mayor García Rex points out that the Italian Consistory contributed another 350,000 euros, an amount that the Genoese media reduced to almost half
Around 20% of the total cost of holding the event. That is what the aid of 250,000 euros granted by the Murcia City Council to the Sardinera Association -through an agreement- meant for the celebration of the parade and subsequent parade of the Burial of the Sardine in the Italian city of Genoa. This was confirmed this Tuesday to LA VERDAD by both the Councilor for Culture, Tourism and Sports, Pedro García Rex, and the president of the festive group, José Antonio Sánchez. In this way, as indicated, the Murcian municipal contribution was added to the «350,000 euros put by the Italian Consistory -30% of the total amount, according to García Rex- and to the more than half a million euros that the Association put out of his pocket Sardinera”, until completing a disbursement of more than 1.1 million euros. However, several Genoese local media yesterday echoed statements by the mayor Paola Bordilli in which she lowered the Italian contribution to 162,000 euros -including the fireworks show and the communication campaign, among other concepts-, noting that this was had covered with sponsorships (75,000 euros) and the tourist tax (87,000 euros).
“After several years of work, we have completed the most important project at a tourist and cultural level in the history of the city and that has allowed us to transmit part of our legacy”, defended the president of the Sardinera Association, highlighting not only the important economic effort that the group has made, but also “the hard work loaded with emotional exhaustion” that has led to the culmination of this initiative. “We have had to save during these two years to be able to face an appointment with which we have raised the name of Murcia very high,” added Sánchez, while explaining the logistical difficulties they have encountered.
“We have already carried out a preliminary feasibility study and we are immersed in carrying out an analysis of the possible impact and economic return of this action, but at the moment we are very satisfied with what we have experienced in the Italian city, in which there were more than 100,000 attendees; everyone knows Murcia and an interest has arisen in coming to visit it”, assured García Rex, adding that, through meetings such as those that have been held and will continue, there is an intention to promote an air connection with the capital of Liguria , which currently lacks direct flights with both the Murcian capital and Alicante’s El Altet airport.
The transfer of the Burial of the Sardine festival to Genoa last weekend was carried out within the framework of the twinning process between the two cities, which culminated last December with the signature of both mayors. Just a few months before, an Italian delegation made a courtesy visit to the Murcian capital, which arrived accompanied, in order to promote Genoese culture, by the organization in Cardenal Belluga square of a championship for the preparation of pesto, the sauce par excellence of the Italian region of Liguria. Correspondingly, the Murcian delegation recently organized, together with the Sardinera Group, the aforementioned parade and street parade, in which twenty sardine groups, four large floats, 29 entertainment groups and more than 500 participants took part.
‘Lack of transparency’
The decision to allocate 250,000 euros to the celebration of this event by the Department of Culture has generated mistrust in the investiture partner of PSOE and Cs, Podemos, who did not like the decision. In fact, despite the fact that this agreement was given the green light at a meeting of the Municipal Government Board on May 13, as a matter off the agenda, the purple spokesman, Ginés Ruiz, annoyed by the “lack of transparency”, he sent a letter to García Rex, dated May 17, in which he asked “if money is going to be allocated to the celebration of said act” and, in this case, “what is the amount, from what budget items proceeds”, as well as the list of attendees who have been paid for the trip and stay, activities and a feasibility and profitability study. Ruiz will take a definitive position on the matter when he receives the pertinent information.
Further, those responsible for the formation in Murcia were organically speaking of “waste” and “‘ballestization’ of the government of José Antonio Serrano. The president of the sardineros, who dismissed these statements as “short sighted”, defended that the money used is “more than justified” in the terms of what is established in the agreement. “We have paid out of our pocket, flights, accommodation and meals,” he added before possible suspicions and recalling that the annual parade of the Spring Festival has a cost of about two million euros, “of which the City Council does not contribute even 10 %”.
A media impact of “one and a half million unique users”
The municipal government reported yesterday in a statement that the Burial of the Sardine held in Genoa last Saturday “reached more than one and a half million unique users, according to data provided by the Communication and Events Directorate of the Genoese City Council” , analyzing in a first report the interactions with the municipal network accounts, as well as with the local information web pages, the tourist portal ‘visitgenoa’ and the special broadcast of the local radios and televisions.
Also, municipal sources add that, among the agreements reached within the framework of the twinning between Murcia and Genoa is the joint tourism promotion of both cities through the development of tourist packages through the DATE-Murcia program.
“The success has exceeded the expectations set, in such a way that the Government team is studying carrying out other similar initiatives with both festive and sports, cultural or gastronomic groups,” they concluded.
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