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Date Published: 24/01/2024

King and Queen of Spain impressed by Murcia tourism offering 2024

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The Region of Murcia is promoting the Jubilee Year in Caravaca de la Cruz as its flagship attraction this year

King and Queen of Spain impressed by Murcia tourism offering 2024

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain (pictured above, left) were in Madrid today to inaugurate FITUR, the annual International Tourism Fair, and visited the 1,000m2 stand set up by the Region of Murcia government and its tourist board, the Institute of Tourism of the Region of Murcia.

Also present was the President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras (above, second from the right), who explained to their majesties that the main theme of this year’s tourist offering in the Region of Murcia was “the Jubilee Year of Caravaca de la Cruz” and that the objective is to bring 1 million pilgrims to the northern Murcia town to “travel that path of reflection, love and reunion with oneself”.

The Jubilee Year comes around every seven years for each of the Catholic church’s Holy cities, of which Caravaca de la Cruz was made one in 1998 by Pope John Paul II. This Jubilee Year, Caravaca is preparing to welcome huge numbers of pilgrims who come walking along the ‘Camino de la Cruz’ as a way of consolidating “the values of faith, solidarity and… reconciliation with God”.

The mayor of Caravaca, José Francisco García (below, far right), said, “The tourist potential of Caravaca is undeniable and has a general spirit that runs throughout the year and countless attractions and resources that justify a visit to the city at any time. Its Jubilee status and the devotional popularity of the Vera Cruz in so many parts of the world are the perfect letter of introduction to what is undoubtedly one of the religious tourism destinations with the greatest potential in Europe.”

In regard to the visit of the King and Queen to the Region of Murcia’s FITUR stand, López Miras said, “Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have been very interested in our tourist offer, and we have especially talked about the Jubilee Year, which is going to be one of the most important tourist milestones of the year at a national and international level.”

The stand is, according to López Miras, “one of the largest, best organised and most dynamic of the entire fair”.

He also presented the first edition of the Convention of Holy Cities of Christianity, which will be hosted by Caravaca and the Monastery of Los Jerónimos, headquarters of the Catholic University of Murcia in October of this year. The event will allow the twinning of towns and the exchange of good practices between the Holy cities of Catholicism: Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Caravaca de la Cruz and Santo Toribio de Liébana.

The convention expects to bring together around 200 participants from the five holy cities, and will attract experts and authorities who will share their experience on celebrating religious events of international impact.

This initiative was born with the aim of continuity and will be celebrated successively in each of the holy cities, on a biennial basis. In this way, the alliance between the five jubilee destinations seeks to generate a social, cultural, spiritual and institutional ecosystem that keeps them connected, and also unites the pilgrims who visit them.

Mass investment in Murcia tourism at FITUR

López Miras also took the opportunity to underscore that, for the Region, “tourism is one of our engines and a lever for growth and job creation,” noting that 2023 “was the year in which we received more visitors and registered more overnight stays”.

In parallel with these numbers, Murcia has increased its allocation of funds for tourism promotion by 24% in the 2024 Budget, reaching almost 26 million euros. This should also translate into new programmes to enhance, for instance, the relationship between gastronomy and tourism, and to attract large events.

As such, one of the new initiatives that the president announced is the launch of the Young Talent Gastronomic Campus, “an innovative format that will link the 1,001 Flavours (‘1.001 Sabores’) Region of Murcia brand to talent and the future, and that will bring with it a symbiosis between personalities most experienced in the world of gastronomy and young people who want to make their way.”

Another of the projects which Murcia is already working on is the creation of the Tourism Events Office of the Region of Murcia, from which the celebration of large events of a gastronomic, cultural, festive, sports, social nature will be coordinated and facilitated. The regional government plans to allocate 1 million euros to encourage the celebration of this type of event, and hopes to create at least a thousand new overnight tourist stays for this year.

Images 1 & 4: CARM

Images 2 & 3: Ayuntamiento de Caravac a de la Cruz