The FEMP launches the Spanish Network of Capitals of Culture to reinforce municipal cultural policies

The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) has launched the Spanish Network of Capitals of Culture, approved by its Governing Board, with the aim of promoting culture as a strategic axis of urban development, an engine of social cohesion, identity and international projection.

The initiative responds, according to the federation, to a demand from local entities to have a stable, technical and political space that allows sustaining the municipal cultural impulse, reinforcing territorial cooperation and guaranteeing the return to the technical, economic and social participation effort made by the town councils in cultural matters.

With this purpose, the general secretary of the FEMP, Luis Martínez-Sicluna, has requested a meeting with the Secretary of State for Culture, Jordi Martí Grau, to explore avenues for institutional collaboration, articulate support mechanisms and define a cooperation framework with the Ministry of Culture that contributes to the development of the network.

Among the objectives of the new network are to reinforce the active role of city councils in the planning and management of their cultural policies, create a permanent forum for cooperation between cities committed to cultural innovation and improve the international visibility of Spanish cities, especially within the framework of the European Capital of Culture 2031. The FEMP also plans to study the implementation of a Spanish City of Culture model.

The municipalities that join will be able to access shared projects, strengthen their candidacy in processes such as the European Capital of Culture, participate in joint representation before the Government and European institutions, and promote cultural innovation, digitalization and social participation initiatives.