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THE CITY OF OURENSE
LITERARY CAPITAL
Surnamed the Galician Athens, Ourense is not only the cradle of a great selection of artists, men and women of letters, and poets who lived and wrote here. Immortalize within the pages of authors such as Eduardo Blanco-Amor, Vicente Risco, Otero Pedrayo, Curros Enríques, or Carlos Casares, Ourense is the literary city par excellence in Galicia.
A tour around its streets becomes an authentic lecture of history: here Saco and Arce’s grammars was published, the first one written entirely in Galician, and also the first Galician newspaper, O Tío Marcos d’Portela, in 1876.
At the number 21 of Paz Street, Otero Pedrayo and Vicente Risco lived, two of the most notorious names of the Revista Nós; a publication that saw the light for the first time in 1920, and which would shake up the Galician culture forever. The first translation of Joyce in Spain was published in this magazine. The Xeración Nós is born in Ourense, and connects Galicia with Europe and the world.
At the very heart of the city, in the street of Vinos, we find the plaque that remembers where the writer Eduardo Blanco-Amor was born, whose pen gave birth to Auria, the literary counterpart of Ourense. Blanco-Amor, who lived in Buenos Aires and traveled by the whole America, focused his work, in Galician and Spanish, in the city of Ourense, elevating it to the highest literary category.
Besides these authors, during the Congress we will pay homage to José Ángel Valente, universal ourensano who excelled in the Spanish letters as a poet, and who wanted to be buried in his city; and Carlos Casares, notable narrator in the Galician language, and promoter of PEN in Galicia, of which he was president between 1996 and 1999.
EUROPEAN HISTORIC THERMAL TOWNS ASSOCIATION
In December 2009, Ourense became one of the six founding cities of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA). Thus, the EHTTA was constituted as the first and only European organ which binds together the cities with a thermal patrimony; united in the defense, safeguarding, and highlighting its resources before the European Union and the rest of the world. The EHTTA, permanent European non-profit association, essentially aims to “form a network of towns that boast a recognized spa tradition and a rich heritage able to boost and safeguard thermalism, while defining creative and innovative policies for its promotion and enhancement”.
Seven years later, the EHTTA counts already with more than 25 cities added to this network that contributes to the construction of Europe through a common nexus, water. The origins and history of these cities are oriented now to the touristic industry, positioning itself for economic development and sustainability. A sustainable tourism which is addressed to nature, culture, and a paused rhythm: an emergent sector whose promotion and development is the leitmotif of this community network.
More info: www.ehhta.eu