Parallel to the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and/or Government to start in the Dominican Republic.

Various cultural activities will take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in Santa Tecla (El Salvador) and, later, in Cali, Colombia; Arequipa, Peru, and Cordoba, Argentina.

The initiative, promoted by the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the Madrid City Council, seeks, in addition to strengthening cooperation ties, value their social and cultural ties on both shores of the Atlantic.

In the four cities you can enjoy live concerts, photographic exhibitions, talks, forums, film projections and free gastronomic and cultural samples.

In this way, Madrid seeks to position itself as an Ibero-American benchmark in terms of cooperation for local development, in which shared ties and two-way cultural bridges will be the guiding threads of the festive program.

The program highlights the exhibition “Madrid, open space and time”, by photographer José Manuel Ballester —National Photography Award 2010 from the Ministry of Culture of Spain—, which will also include an audiovisual exhibition

The academic touch will be given by the conferences on cultural and creative industries “Madrid, capital and cultural engine in Ibero-America”, in which specialists in the field will discuss how the public policies developed in the Spanish capital can be applied to local contexts to promote this important sector. Each city will give its particular touch and, for example, in Santa Tecla, you can enjoy the tecleño artist Yeye Gálvez –who combines flamenco airs with traditional Salvadoran music– or zarzuela shows together with the Opera of El Salvador.

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