The general director of CEOE Internacional and permanent secretary of the Ibero-American Business Council, Narciso Casado, participated in the commemorative event for the National Holiday, organized by the Madrid City Council and the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI). The event, which was chaired by the mayor of the capital and co-president of the UCCI, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, was also attended by the organization's general secretary, Almudena Maíllo, as well as the president of the municipal plenary session, Borja Fanjul, and spokespersons for the different municipal groups, as well as representatives of the Ibero-American diplomatic corps accredited in Madrid; the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, the UCCI General Director, Ana Román; the deputy director of the latter, Fernando Rocafull; the general secretary of the Ibero-American Federation of Young Entrepreneurs (FIJE), Antonio Magraner; and his counterpart at the International Youth Organization for Ibero-America, Max Trejo; in other authorities.
The Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, emphasized the phenomenon of the Ibero-American, in everything that unites us despite being different, especially in the construction of this Ibero-American space. He also stressed "the amazing ability we have to unite based on a common culture."
The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida highlighted in his speech the exchanges maintained at a distance during the harsh months of the pandemic and assured that “those calls always ended with a message of support knowing that each and every one of the capital cities of Latin America had a city and a capital by their side to get out of this situation as soon as possible ”. In this sense, he emphasized the Ibero-American vocation of Madrid as the capital of Latin America in Europe, and underlined the importance of our common language, as well as “the will to help each other, to help us maintain and strengthen the ties that have united us for 500 years. ”.
Martínez-Almeida was also very grateful for the messages of support and congratulations that, by video, the mayors of the cities of Andorra La Vella, Asunción, Bogotá, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Guatemala, Lima, Lisbon, Managua, Montevideo sent him , Panama, Quito, San José, Santiago and Tegucigalpa, among others.
For her part, the UCCI Secretary General, Almudena Maíllo, stressed how the UCCI strengthened ties between cities to face the health crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic and praised Madrid's leadership with its mayor at the helm , also ensuring that "America vice in Madrid." In this sense, he continued, “Madrid, as the capital of Spain and the capital of Latin America in Europe, has shown its permanent will to share experiences, learn, teach and cooperate” and recalled how important it is to celebrate what unites us, as well as our history in common, since it is a clear example of the “commitment we have with the future and with the progress of our fellow citizens.
It is worth highlighting the presence at the event of the general director of Casa de América, Antonio Pérez-Hernández Torra; the Secretary General of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture, Mariano Jabonero; the general director of the Fundación Iberoamericana Empresarial, Miguel Ángel Cortés; the vice president of the Academy of Madrid Gastronomy, Ángel Parada; and the general director of the International Union of Public Transport, Dionisio González. Likewise, the conference was attended by an outstanding representation of the business sector, and a good example of them is the presence at the event of Narciso Casado or Antonio Magraner.
Collaboration possibilities
The permanent secretary of CEIB met, after finishing the act, with the general secretary of the UCCI, Almudena Maíllo, to look for possible lines of collaboration between both institutions; and with the ambassadors of Paraguay and Colombia, among others, in order to undertake future collaboration projects with the Council of Ibero-American Entrepreneurs.
