On Friday 15 November, in the impressive setting of the Wine and Salt Interpretation Centre of the Municipality of Chiclana de la Frontera, the General Assembly 2024 of the Phoenicians’ Route was held as part of the 17th Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue.
It was a valuable opportunity to take stock of current activities and strategies to be implemented in the near future, in line with the action plan.
A specific technical focus was made for the Spanish partners in order to further develop the Smart Ways of the Phoenicians’ Route. And Council of Europe certificates were handed over to the new partners.
The participants, coming from the different members countries of the Route, had the opportunity to visit the magnificent New Gadeira Interpretation Centre, an excellent example of storytelling and heritage actualisation.
In the afternoon, the Scientific Conference “Current Research in the Phoenician World. New findings and perspectives” organised by the University of Cadiz took place.
Among the speakers: Tatiana Pedrazzi, CNR researcher; Bartolomé Mora, University of Malaga; and Ana Mª Niveau de Villedary y Mariñas, University of Cadiz.
The XVII Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue closed on Saturday 16 November in the Municipality of El Puerto de Santa Maria. Delegations of members of the Phoenicians’ Route, from 6 countries, had the opportunity to visit the archaeological site of Dona Blanca, a fundamental area for the investigation of the Phoenician presence in Cádiz, guided by the archaeologist Pablo Sicre Gonzales, from the Phoenix Mediterránea research group of the University of Cádiz.
Afterwards, visit to the Osborne Winery, founded in 1772 by Tomas Osborne Mann, famous all over the world for the production of wines and brandies of great quality and notoriety.
Here, participants also had the opportunity to learn about the history of grape growing, introduced by the Phoenicians from 1100 BC in the area they called Xera.
At the end, the Closing Ceremony in the presence of the Councillor for Tourism and Promotion of the City, Olga de Navas Díaz; the Director of the Phoenicians’ Route, Antonio Barone; the Director General of Culture of the University of Cadiz, Ester Trigo and the Architect Juan Antonio de la Mata as representative of the City Council of Chiclana de la Frontera.