The Niu de lÀliga, at the top of Tosa d’Alp, welcomed the kick-off of the European Year of Sport in the Catalan Pyrenees
“We have enormous potential and growth if we are folded and we do the many things that are rubbish together and with a global vision”, said Albert Piñeira
The Niu de lÀliga, at the top of Tosa d’Alp, was the meeting point to kick off the Pyrenees Sports Year 2023 within the framework of the PYRENEES CATALÀ project achieved by the territory since the Parliament of the Union Union will deliver the flag of this capital in order to strengthen, unify and give its own identity to its culture and sports projection.
The presentation act has been a great opportunity for administrations, authorities and athletes to make clear their willingness to bet for take advantage of a unique opportunity to consolidate the Catalan Pyrenees as the engine of the sport most identified with the mountains, nature and environmental sustainability from cooperation and understanding.
This was highlighted by the president of PIRINEU CATALÀ – EUROPEAN COMMUNITY OF SPORTS, Albert Piñeira, who was the one who, as mayor of Puigcerdà, initiated and obtained the nomination last year. “We have an extraordinary territory in terms of equipment, 3,763 in totall, which means 11.7% of Catalonia with only 175,000 inhabitants, of which more than 74% do regular physical activity, the rest 59%, in addition to providing high competition, at all levels, more athletes and clubs . We also lead with 33% of sports spaces in the country. Only in visitors to the nine ski resorts we have received 2.3 million. And what’s more, -he said- we can grow and go further if we walk together. We have enormous potential. We do a lot of things, yeah but without a global vision. In other words, we don’t do them together. That is why being the European Sports Community has to help us to change this chip, not to tend to compete but to cooperate. Somehow we have to convince ourselves that the competition is not the region next door, it is the European mountain stations& rdquor ;, he finished, encouraging everyone to overcome the challenge of asserting as a community the true value of the Catalan Pyrenees. “We have to know -he added- promote ourselves abroad, to Europe, because we can be a reference like any other mountain territory& rdquor ;.
For his part, Carles Aderà, Mayor of Alp, highlighted the breadth and suitability of the project and the multi-participation of all the municipalities; Toni Sanmartí, Director of Tourism and Mountain of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, referred to the nomination as “un recognition and not a surprise that has been possible thanks to having worked together. It may be that we only go faster, but together we go further& rdquor ;, exposing as keys to the future the will of Railways to bet on sustainability and biodiversity and transform theirs into a carbon-neutral territory by 2030 expands its area of presence and influence in the Pyrenees. Soon -he said- the Vall de Nuria will be a zero emission zone& rdquor ;.
Pere Sust, as president of the Catalan Sports Foundationrecalled the process and the work done before the Association of European Sports Cities (ACES), organization that grants the denomination of town, region and European community of the sport. “This has become the greatest challenge that ACES has ever faced, since the Pyrenees brings together the largest number of Municipalities (163) and the coincidence of at least eighteen high-level international competitions, some of them worldwide. We have to congratulate ourselves because the ten Regional Councils present voted unanimously in favor”.
In this line, all the participants applauded the fact of the will, also unanimous, of the organizations involved in agreeing and in favor of the initiative: Generalitat de Catalunya, Diputaciones de Girona, Lleida and Barcelona, Consells Comarcals, Ferrocarrils de the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan Tourism Agency and the Fundació Catalana de l’Esport.
Representatives of the wide range of sports, activities and initiatives that, as a whole, have managed to turn the Pyrenean mountain ranges into an inexhaustible stage of emotions and adventure, leisure, entertainment, spectacle, participated in the round table held on the occasion of the presentation. , top-level competitions, fun and all kinds of tourism related to a unique territory and natural environment.
All of them, moderated by the TV3 journalist Rosa Talamàs, highlighted the enormous potential for growth and improvement in the line of development and progress historically accredited in the Catalan Pyrenees and that, they also agreed, the fact of sharing and using as a tool for improvement and stimulation the traction of being a EUROPEAN COMMUNITY OF SPORT throughout this very special year can be accelerated.
Marc Pinsach, coach at the Ski Mountaineering Technification Center; Xavier Perpiñán, director of La Molina; Mate Heras, technician from the Cerdanya Sports Council; Silvia Puigarnau, director of the INEFC of la Seu d’Urgell; José Antonio Hermida, Olympic athlete in the BTT modality and promoter of sporting events in the Pyrenees; David Vallvé, director of the Sports service of the City Council of La Seu d’Urgell; Jaume Pueyo, Olympic cross-country skier; Pere Porta, president of the Sports Association SEDES basketball Suyo de Urgell; Laura Penya, basketball player SEDES Suyo Sports Association from Urgell; Xavier Travé, from the Parque del Segre de la Seu d’Urgell; and Raúl Capdevila, a visually impaired Paralympian as a guide and organizer of sporting events in the Pyrenees, contributed to the Nido del Águila the recently released spirit of walking, more than ever folded, in favor of promoting the sporting aspect of the Catalan Pyrenees.