The mayoress of Mijas, Ana Mata (PP), welcomed her counterpart, Nikolay Rashkov, mayor of the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, last Wednesday 1st. The two municipalities signed a friendship agreement, which will form the basis for a future twinning arrangement between the two towns. “For us, this is a means of collaborating on various projects that we could initiate at European level”, said the mayoress. 

For his part, Rashkov explained that “Gorna Oryahovitsa is a very beautiful town; it is a railway manufacturing centre, and we also have an airport. It is a hub for the distribution of electricity, everything is very close by”.

 

The councillor for Foreigners, Mario Bravo (PP), accompanied Mata, alongside the country’s ambassador to Spain, Todor Stoyanov, and  Boris Katsamunski, the embassy’s cultural attaché, as well as representatives from the Estreya Bulgarian-Spanish Cultural Centre in Málaga. “It is a pleasure for us to be here with the mayoress of Mijas”, said the ambassador.

Representatives from both towns expressed their willingness to maintain open channels of institutional communication and to explore, in the future, possible collaborative initiatives that would help strengthen ties between the two municipalities. Mata highlighted Gorna Oryahovitsa’s interest in strengthening ties with Mijas and welcomed this first step as a sign of a willingness to jointly explore projects that could benefit the residents of both towns.

Following the signing, the Bulgarian delegation took a tour of the most iconic sites in Mijas Pueblo.

The day also featured a Spanish-Bulgarian festival at the Manuel España Theatre in Las Lagunas, where attendees enjoyed a cultural exchange featuring various performances.

Spanish-Bulgarian Cultrual Festival: Strengthening ties through culture

The event was organised by the Estreya Bulgarian-Spanish Cultural Centre in Málaga, in collaboration with the Mijas Town Hall. Antonio Pérez, a member of the centre, noted that “the whole purpose of this event is to establish a twinning between the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa and Mijas”, adding that “our centre is dedicated to raising awareness of Bulgaria, which is a very beautiful country that is perhaps little known, particularly in terms of its culture”. 

 

The afternoon brought together Bulgarian residents from across the province and local residents in general. Speakers at the event included local authorities, the mayoress Ana Mata (PP), the councillor for Foreigners, Mario Bravo (PP), the mayor of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Nikolay Rashkov, as well as the Bulgarian Ambassador to Spain, Todor Stoyanov. 

The event also made room for solidarity, with the organisations Diksha España and Sembrando Sonrisas setting up stalls. “They invited our organisations so that we could bring our products here to this festival”, said Rosa Planelles, president of Sembrando Sonrisas.

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