Everything is ready. A few tourists are milling around. Just in case – perhaps seeing a couple of curious people about to cross the gates – an operator warns: “The red carpet is not yet open for visitors!”
A spotless, freshly laid carpet appeared this Tuesday in the Casa de la Villa in Madrid, just a few metres from the Almudena cathedral. The carpet has some questions printed on it as a trivia game. Does the origin of the garnacha come from…? Where did Goya learn to look? Which city has two active cathedrals? Which city has three wine-growing areas within 100 kilometres? The red fabric also offers some fairly clear clues in the form of loose syllables, spread across the tapestry. “Za”. “Ra”. “Go”. “Za”. Which city will it be? It seems easy to play trivia like this, and it is.
The headquarters that housed the City Hall of an entire Spanish capital from the end of the 17th century until the beginning of the 21st century —when the then mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón moved to the Cibeles Palace, right in front of the fountain that bears his name— was dressed up this Tuesday exclusively for Zaragoza. Its mayor, Natalia Chueca, from the PP, came here. Chueca came to sell the Aragonese capital as the ideal trip for the coming months. “It has become the perfect destination for this autumn,” she says.
Spain’s fourth largest city – it surpassed Seville last year and is now home to almost 700,000 residents – will be dressed up in the coming weeks. Its mayor has travelled to Madrid’s Casa de la Villa to sign a collaboration agreement with the capital’s City Hall. The aim is to strengthen the ties between the two cities. Zaragoza is located half an hour and a half from the capital by AVE. “It’s a perfect getaway in both directions,” says the mayor. “The idea of the tourism departments of both capitals is to establish synergies. Share exhibitions. Attract national tourism. Share weekend getaways. “The main target audience we have is Madrid,” says Chueca. “They are two connected cities,” answers the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida. “It’s not a place to visit in one day.”
In 2023 alone, 1,179,282 tourists traveled to Zaragoza, 13% more than in 2022, according to municipal data collected by the Herald of Aragon. National tourists increased by 10%. International tourists shot up to 21%. Seven out of ten people who visit Zaragoza come from other places in Spain. They represent 67% of total spending. The most valued tourist attraction is the heritage. And it is the only capital that has three designations of origin within less than 90 kilometres: Calatayud, Cariñena and Campo de Borja.
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This is where Zaragoza City Council has set its sights for the coming years. One of the five most important grapes in the world, garnacha, originated precisely in Aragon. The mayor has announced that by spring 2025 Zaragoza will be the world capital of garnacha with various activities: music, shows, tastings – a must is the Moonlight cocktail bar, by Borja Insa, one of the best cocktail makers in the world – and gastronomy, with chefs Susana Casanova and Ramsés González. “Wine lovers have discovered the benefits of this grape and that is why we have concentrated this experience. Sleeping in Zaragoza allows you to see the heritage and travel to these wineries,” says the mayor, who has announced that in 2028 the bicentennial of Goya will be celebrated and, right now, after the festivities of the patron saint of Pilar from October 5 to 13, the Monumental Tour.
It will take place on the 25th of this month. This is a unique event in Spain. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, a masterpiece of 17th and 18th century architecture, will become a canvas where technology and contemporary creation will merge with electronic music. “It comes from Paris, from the Eiffel Tower,” says the mayor. The show, designed by DJ and producer Michael Canitrot, will last four hours. And it will be free.
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