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Today, nearly one hundred primary school and university students of different nationalities led Europe Day celebrations that took place in the Plaza de Santa Ana today. This event is particularly relevant to the city’s bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2016.

Chaired by Jerónimo Saavedra, the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, this event in the old part of town was filled with music and colour. It commemorated the day when Foreign Minister Robert Schumann published the statement that gave birth to what is now the European Union.

On the 26^th of April, an event took place in which smaller institutions read the statement adopted by municipal institutions. This brought together leading figures from the Canary Islands authorities in the Gran Canaria capital including consular representatives of all nations belonging to the European Union. What’s more, approximately twenty NGO’s advocated their projects to the general public through information stalls in Santa Ana in connection with this being the European Year of Volunteering.

This enabled organizations participating in the event to inform people on work done in various sectors such as the battle against drug addiction or against social exclusion and support for groups with mental or physical disabilities or support for families and people affected by various diseases such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes or spinal cord injuries.