Batea, Calonge i Sant Antoni, Móra la Nova and L’Escala are winners of the first edition of the Poble de l’Any contest organized by Prensa Ibérica and which distinguishes culture, technology and agricultural and maritime character.
Bat (Highland), Calonge and Sant Antoni (Baix Emporda), Mora the Nova (Ribera d’Ebre) and L’Escala (Alt Empordà) are the winning municipalities of the first edition of the Poble de l’Any contest who organizes the Iberian Press publishing group. The award ceremony took place on Tuesday in a gala at the Kursaal theater in Manresa, which was attended by mayors or representatives of each of the 12 finalist towns, the sponsoring companies, the Generalitat and the Manresa City Council. The gala, which some 200 people saw live, was conducted and animated by the actor and comedian Fel Faixedas.
The Poble de l’Any is an award that Prensa Ibérica has organized in different regions of the State with the aim of valuing the work carried out by the local Administrations in these municipalities, both those that are by the sea and those that are in the mountains, both from the north as well as from the south. The award has been organized into four categories and the jury, made up of sponsors (Chocolates Torras, Talleres Ballús de Toyota, Endesa, Cafés Pont and Bon Preu-Esclat and Manresa City Council) and directors of the group’s newspapers in Catalonia (EL PERIÓDICO , Diari de Girona, Empordà and Regió 7), chose the three finalists of each: Millor Cultural Village of l’Any, Millor Agricultural Village of l’Any, Millor Poble Tecnològic Y Millor Poble Maritim. Subsequently, a popular vote among the readers of the different web and paper media has served to make the final choice.
It was a festival of the towns, of some of these towns losing people, but, above all, of those who express their desire to continue growing with projects that drive them forward and, in some cases, make them unique. It was highlighted by the general director of the Prensa Ibérica group, Sergio Guillot, in the first intervention of the night. «” We thought of the awards to highlight and promote the municipalities”, he explained. And, through the award-winning mayors who intervened at the time of receiving the award, it was seen that they truly achieved the objective.
In all cases, it was taken into account that it was the first edition of the award and the initiative of the editorial group was valued for the support it represents.
At the same time, all the winners invited Prensa Ibérica to continue with new calls. He did, too Ignasi Genovesgeneral director of Dissemination of the Generalitat, who encouraged the publishing group to continue with the awards “because I am sure they will be a success, just as another award they award, the Català de l’Any”.
It was reiterated by the mayors and representatives of the four award-winning towns and also the mayor of Manresa, Marc Aloy, the host city in this first edition. Aloy – who was accompanied in the audience by councilors Mariona Homs, from ERC; Valentí Junyent and Mercè Tarragó, from Junts and also in the municipal government, and by the head of the socialist group, Anjo Valentí– presented Manresa as “a welcoming city”, recalling that 500 years ago it also welcomed what has now become “the main ambassador”, Saint Ignatius.
The mayor of Manresa thanked Prensa Ibérica for having created these awards and highlighted the journalistic work and the role played by the closest media in publicizing what is happening in the country’s cities and towns.
Calonge and Sant Antoni
MILLION CULTURAL VILLAGE OF L’ANY
“The award invites us to continue promoting cultural projects”
The Millor Poble Cultural de l’Any award recognizes Calonge i Sant Antoni, in the Baix Empordà region, for its proposal to revitalize the historic center through the Calonge project, towns of books, which has made the municipality the first ‘ stable book-town’ of Catalonia and the second of the Spanish State. The initiative, which was launched in December last year, has enabled the opening of seven bookstores in the historic center of a municipality with only 11,000 inhabitants. It is a project that responds to the will of the City Council of Calonge i San Antoni to revitalize the socioeconomic and cultural activity of the town, through its commerce, its restoration and its social life. In fact, upon receiving the award, the mayor of the town, Jordi Soler, highlighted that the recognition will serve “as a stimulus to continue promoting cultural projects in the municipality.”
Bat
MILLER POBLE AGRICULTURAL DE L’ANY
“We have always felt proud to be a town ‘de pagès'”
Batea, in the Terra Alta region, obtained the Millor Poble Agrícola de l’Any award for being the leading wine producer in Catalonia and the third in number of farms. Batea produces 20% of the world’s white Grenache, a variety that allowed the town to win 20 of the 80 medals in the recent contest for the best Grenache in the world. Alvino, other products are added that have also obtained recognition, as is the case of oils and truffle crops. Among the different crops, there is 30% that are ecological, a fact that makes the municipality a benchmark in terms of this agricultural production system that refuses, for example, the use of chemical products. During the award ceremony, the mayor of Batea, Joaquim Paladella, stated that the distinction “reinforces the pride we feel for being a town of pagès”.
Mora the Nova
MILLER POBLE TECNOLÒGIC DE L’ANY
“Better connectivity creates more job opportunities”
Móra la Nova, in the Ribera d’Ebre region, receives the award for the Millor Poble Tecnològic de l’Any for its project based on promoting a private 5G network with the aim of providing the region with ambitious equipment, which allows companies from the Ebrense territory, as well as from the rest of Catalonia, to be able to use 5G technology to develop their products. The first deputy mayor of Móra la Nova, Jesús Álvarez, who excused the absence of the mayor at the award ceremony, stressed that “guaranteeing better connectivity in the municipality is a way of offering a better quality of life and services in the population”. He also explained that the project, called CoEbreLab, aims to generate a significant economic impact in the region and promote the growth of existing companies and the arrival of new ones that generate more jobs.
L’Escala
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MILLOR POBLE MARÍTIM DE L’ANY
L’Escala, in the Alt Empordà, won the Millor Poble Marítim de l’Any award for the recognition obtained by the ‘Viu en blau’ project, promoted by the City Council of L’Escala and the Fishermen’s Association of this municipality, with the purpose of highlighting the importance of the fishing sector and the consumption of oily fish. On behalf of the municipality, Mayor Josep Bofill collected the award, stressing that it is a project that aims to project L’Escala “as a town that has grown from the sea and that has other attractions beyond anchovy”. In this sense, the mayor also mentioned that L’Escala is promoting actions such as an annual gastronomic campaign, visits to the fish auction and the creation of Blue Experience sustainable tourism packages to promote the different assets of this coastal municipality.