COMUNICACIÓN

The Governing Board of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation has approved the appointment of Rebeca Grynspan, the Ibero-American Secretary General, as new member of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste, at a meeting held this morning in Mérida.

Grynspan was appointed Under-Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) in 2010 and Assistant Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She was the UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2006 to 2010 and Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. As a renowned advocate of human development, she was also a UN delegate at the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, a group composed of officials from the Haitian government, the ex-President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and other important international partners. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Extremadura.

Other members of the Academy are: the painter Antonio López; the politician Marcelino Oreja; the theologian Hans Küng; the cardiologist Valentin Fuster; the pianist Maria João Pires; the historian Maria del Carmen Iglesias, and the politicians Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra and Federico Mayor Zaragoza.

The new Regulation of the Academy was also approved at the meeting. It seeks, on the one hand, to reactivate this body so that it may be more agile and make it a reference forum for the encounter and discussion among its academics, the Alumni Network of Yuste and university students who attend the international courses of Campus Yuste, where problems affecting Europe and Ibero-America may be dealt with. On the other hand, it seeks to achieve an intergenerational academy.

The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation is a meeting space, where intellectuals, artists, scientists and politicians are called to exchange opinions and where they are made public.

This was the first meeting held by the Governing Board once the European Academy of Yuste and the Extremaduran Centre for Studies and Cooperation with Ibero-America, (CEXECI) merged together. This union has taken place in order to comply with the government’s commitment to restructure foundations and public entities and as a result of a new way to work applied by Extremadura’s foreign policy, which goes from a vertical to a horizontal and transversal plane.
The Action Plan for 2018, including more than 100 activities related to Europe and Ibero-America, has also been presented in detail at the meeting held by the Foundation’s Governing Board. The Campus Yuste Programme, which includes international summer courses organised by the University of Extremadura; Aula-Iberomamérica, which consists on lectures by experts; Aula Abierta, which comprises encounters and sessions in Extremadura and Costa Rica, as well as several symposia on Extremaduran important figures in America that will be held at different locations in the region, stands out.

There will be cultural and awareness programmes, such as the Emperor’s Concerts, the cinema award, the cinema workshop, and the school programmes on Europe and Ibero-America. The Yuste Foundation will continue publishing the existing of book collections, now adding the collection “Entre dos mundos: América y Europa desde Extremadura” (“Between two worlds: America and Europe from Extremadura”). Moreover, activities related to European and American networks, such as the Asociación de Universidades Latinoamericanas (Latin-American Universities Association) or the Encuentro Triangular Estratégico América Latina y el Caribe, Europa y África (Strategic Triangular Encounter, Latin-America and the Caribbean, Europe and Africa), will be carried out.

Moreover, the Foundation’s Governing Board has approved the regulation for the “Carlos V European Award”, as well as the call for the twelfth edition of the Carlos V European Award; an award delivered to people, organisations, projects, or initiatives that have contributed to the general knowledge and enhancement of Europe’s cultural and historical values or to the unification of the European Union. The award will be delivered on the 9th of May, on Europe Day, by His Majesty the King.

The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation presented the book El cacereño Juan Blázquez Mayoralgo. Contador y preceptista en Nueva España, by the professor of Latin Philology at the University of Extremadura, Manuel Mañas Núñez. This book is the fifth volume of the collection “Extremeños en Iberoamérica”; a collection which the Foundation dedicates to recover and enhance key figures in the history that Extremadura shares with America.

The director of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno, its academic director, César Chaparro Gómez, and the mayor of Cáceres, Elena Nevado along with the author of the book, have presented it this afternoon in Cáceres.

This work is the first monograph dedicated to the life and work of Juan Blázquez Mayoralgo, a figure from Cáceres who left to New Spain as de Accountant of the Royal Estate of New Veracruz and continued in his post for more than twenty years.

During that time, he was not only vigilant in meeting his bureaucratic duties, but was the most direct witness of the vicissitudes and problems that New Spain was going through, while still finding moments of leisure to satisfy his literary inquisitiveness with the processing and publication of his main work: La perfecta razón de Estado, a history and political theory book about King Ferdinand the Catholic.

Throughout its almost 500 pages, Mañas writes about the life and work of Blázquez Mayoralgo as of his circle of Novohispano friends in American soil, but above all, he studies and analyses “The Perfect Reason of State”, including it in his political-literary context and analysing the historical and political content of each one of the books that it comprises.

The work has an added value as it combines the historiographic rigour of a scientific work with the novelistic story of its main character’s vital steps as well as of those of the characters that appear in it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Manuel Mañas Núñez is a tenured lecturer of Latin philology (accredited professor) at the University of Extremadura, having taught and carried out research in the past at the Universities of Nantes (France), Coimbra (Portugal), and Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid, Spain).

He is the author of numerous books and scientific articles on classic Latin and medieval literature (rhetoric and Ciceronian philosophy, Horacian poetics and Latin fable), textual criticism and the edition of humanistic Latin texts and the receipt of the classic legacy (grammar, rhetoric, poetics and philosophy) in the Latin Humanism of the Renaissance.

Specialist in the Latin work of famous humanists, such as El Brocense, Erasmus and Justo Lipsio, his last books are the following: Erasmo, El ciceroniano (Madrid, Akal, 2009); Justo Lipsio, Sobre la constancia (Cáceres, UEx, 2010); Enrique Cornelio Agrippa, Declaración sobre la incertidumbre y vanidad de las ciencias y las artes (Cáceres, UEx, 2013); El obispo Galarza y las monjas de Cáceres: estudio y edición del libro ‘De clausura monialium controversia’ (Cáceres, Diputación, 2014).

The President of Extremadura Regional Government, Guillermo Fernández Vara, today introduced the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation (FAEIY) in Brussels, at the residence of Cecilia Yuste, Spanish Ambassador in Belgium, who hosted the ceremony.

Fernando Vara said that the main aim of the new Foundation is to contribute to the promotion and consolidation of existing links between Extremadura, Europe, and Ibero-America, following principles of loyalty, respect for each one’s identity, mutual benefit, and solidarity. He also reiterated that the Carlos V European Award would continue to be one of the distinguishing features of the foundation, giving recognition to the work of individuals, organisations, projects, and initiatives promoting the process of European construction and integration, to be presented each year on 9 May, Europe Day, at the Royal Monastery of Yuste, presided over by His Majesty the King of Spain.
It should be noted that the Extremaduran Statute of Autonomy refers to its link with Ibero-America as one of the region’s distinguishing features, and also dedicates particular attention to it belonging in the European Union. With that in mind, its American and European roots and traditions puts Extremadura in a privileged position to deepen links and integration between Europe and Extremadura.

In this context, FAEIY, set up through the merger between the European Academy of Yuste Foundation (FAEY) and the Extremaduran Centre for Study and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI), has been conceived with the aim of using its background and experience accumulated over 25 years to become the main tool for the region in terms of building a relationship between both geographical regions from a perspective of civil society.

“In the turbulent times we find ourselves in on both sides of the Atlantic, more than ever society needs reference points that brighten a horizon filled with uncertainty and major challenges, as well as opportunities and new projects to work on”, added the Head of the Extremaduran Executive.

Also participating in the ceremony were President of the European Parliament’s Delegation at the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Ramón Jáuregui, and it was also attended by, among other institutional representatives, a number of MEPs, and the Ambassadors of Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, Honduras, Uruguay, and Nicaragua, as well as Pablo García-Berdoy, Spain’s Permanent Representative to the EU.

Ten young researchers of six different nationalities have been selected by the jury for the European research and mobility grants in European studies linked to the European Carlos V Award to Sofía Corradi-Mamma Erasmus, aimed at students preparing their doctoral theses in various fields of study. https://www.fundacionyuste.org/premio-europeo-carlos-v/becas-premio-europeo-carlos-v/

109 research projects were submitted in response to the call, from different countries in the European Union, Latin America, and other countries in the Mediterranean basin. It was the highest number of submissions ever received for the grants, demonstrating both the international scope of the call and its consolidation in promoting research on the process of European integration, as well as showing young people’s interest in the European project. The grants are aimed at  researchers enrolled on a PhD programme and currently working on a doctoral thesis in History, Political Science, Economics, Law, or other disciplines within Human and Social Sciences, as well as other branches of science, on any theme related to the theme and orientation of the grants call.

The jury highlighted the high quality of the proposals received, finally choosing work from 10 researchers (7 female, 3 male) of Spanish, Italian, Serbian, Hungarian, French, and Peruvian nationality, one of whom was from the University of Extremadura. The selected researchers are carrying out doctoral studies at the universities of Leuven (Belgium), Maastricht (Netherlands), Sapienza (Italy), UNED (Spain), National Autonomous University of Mexico, Szeged (Hungarya), Freie Universität Berlin (Germany), Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain), Extremadura (Spain), West Hungary (Hungary), Sant’Anna Pisa (Italy), and Córdoba (Spain).

The theme of the grants, now in their 8th edition, is adapted to the profile of the person granted the award, with the theme for this year being (from a multidisciplinary perspective) ‘Peace and European Values as a potential model for integration and progress in a global world’. The projects submitted  analyse a diverse range of themes related to law in the European Union, equality, European values, religion, Eurocentrism from the periphery, human rights, cooperation, democracy, youth participation, the future of European citizenship, the internationalisation of higher education, European immigration policies, solidarity, fundamental rights, and the role of the EU in political transformations of Mediterranean countries. In her speech at the Carlos V European Award presentation ceremony, Sofia Corradi talked about her commitment to peace through the introduction of the initiative that would go on to become the Erasmus Programme: “The Erasmus programme develops valuable qualities in students such as knowledge, personal development, maturity, creativity in problem solving, and autonomy in decision making: both for everyday life and for important decisions. These small but incredibly positive steps undoubtedly contribute to the promotion of an integrated and improved Europe, as well as peace between the members of our global human family […]”.

The value of the grant for each beneficiary is 2500 euros. The 10 researchers will present their work at the Doctoral Seminar for Pluridisciplinary Studies on Contemporary Europe to be held in Yuste from 24-26 July in the framework of the Campus Yuste programme organised by the European Academy of Yuste Foundation every year, funded this year by the Extremaduran Agency for International Development Cooperation as part of the project entitled ‘Europe facing global challenges from cooperation to development’. The projects will subsequently be published by academic and scientific publisher Peter Lang.

It should be noted that this grants call has had financial and institutional support from the Italian Government, which would like to pay homage to Professor Sofia Corradi, and also to the thirteen Erasmus students killed in the tragic road traffic accident in Tarragona in March 2016, seven of whom were Italians.

EUROPEAN GRANTS

The European Research and Mobility grants for European Studies, Carlos V European Award – Sofia Corradi, Mamma Erasmus, aim to promote study and research in the European field, and have been organised in collaboration with the SEGEI (Socio-Economic Governance and European Identity) Research Network, and the University of Extremadura, with additional support from the Regional Government of Extremadura and the Italian Government.

The selected researchers will go on to form part of the European ‘Alumni de Yuste’ Network, set up to facilitate the exchange of projects and information between researchers specialising in European matters who have received one of the grants. There are now more than 80 researchers from different European, Latin American, and other Mediterranean countries’ universities in the Network.

The chosen 10 researchers are:

The European Academy of Yuste Foundation presented the Carlos V European Award to former Minister for Foreign Affairs and ex-MEP Marcelino Oreja, in a formal ceremony presided over by Felipe VI. As from this year, the award ceremony will be held annually on 9 May to coincide with Europe Day.

King Felipe VI showed his support for building trust in the European project, “improving and renewing it in an intelligent manner”, in order to maintain its position as a “reference for freedom and progress”. 67 years after Robert Schuman’s historic speech on 9th May, to be celebrated every year, King Felipe praised the fact that “Spain is one of the countries where the notion of feeling European is felt most strongly among its citizens”.

He sees the European Academy of Yuste Foundation’s annual presentation of the Carlos V European Award as a renewal of this commitment, something that will now coincide with Europe Day, from Extremadura and Spain, “with the Crown’s full support”, and he congratulated the Foundation on its 25th anniversary.

He also recalled how Spain, along with Portugal, has the additional responsibility of facilitating, supporting, and encouraging relations between the European Union (EU) and Ibero-America, and said how fitting the Foundation’s forthcoming conversion to the European and Ibero-American Yuste Foundation was.

The President of the Regional Government of Extremadura and President of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation Board of Trustees, Guillermo Fernández Vara, also took part in the ceremony. He has contributed to democratic culture and European awareness being an essential component of our policies and projects, in order to attain true progress and well-being through mutual understanding and harmony between nations.

To do so, he has appealed for commitment and responsibility, as politicians and human beings, and has highlighted the importance of investing in communications through advocates who can get close to people and businesses, “especially in the railways, which are so important in countries such as ours”.

The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, also took part, who on the 60 anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, reminded us that “the European Union is a project for the future” which, in his opinion, includes working towards “Europe being safer, more prosperous, more social, and stronger on the world stage”. To do this, he suggested key points such as coordinating ourselves in the fight against terrorism, joint working at foreign borders and providing shelter with the firm application of the law, among others.

In the same vein, prize-winner Marcelino Oreja supported “defending peace at any cost, guaranteeing unity and domestic cohesion and encouraging a bigger and better Europe as a unique alternative in the face of inward-looking and divisive risks”. He has recently shown his support for “updating the European project” which, from his point of view, involves reinforcing the European Union’s social pillar, uniting in defence, calling for globalisation, and moving the European project forward to a different rhythm, from respect to the principle of subsidiarity.

Representing the European Yuste Alumni Network, made up of recipients of Carlos V Award European Research and Mobility Grants for European Study, Delia Manzanero, professor at King Juan Carlos University in Madrid also gave a speech. Manzanero made her case for the power education has to conserve a sense of belonging to Europe as the best way of guaranteeing prosperity and shared European destiny, and preventing a new European civil war.

The Carlos V European Award ceremony organised by the European Academy of Yuste Foundation has institutional backing from the European Parliament, the support of the Regional Government of Extremadura, and collaboration from Extremadura Avante and Canal Extremadura.

Attending the ceremony were Rebeca Grynspan, Iberoamerican Secretary General; Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y Montojo, Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, and government representative; and Alfonso María Dastis Quecedo, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, among others. With the Carlos V European Award the European Academy of Yuste Foundation aims to give recognition to people who stand out for their commitment to the process of European Union construction or their contribution to the enhancement of Europe’s cultural, social, scientific, and historical values. In this way, the Carlos V European Award represents the spirit of the construction of a united Europe.

The European Academy of Yuste Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary with a concert from choir Amadeus, directed by Alonso Gómez Gallego. The concert is on Saturday, 8 April, at 12.00, at the Royal Monastery of Yuste church. The concert marks the opening of a series entitled ‘The Emperor’s Concerts’ organised in collaboration with Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage).

The concert programme includes pieces from 20th and 21st century composers with a touch of Iberian folk, full of optimism. Many of the works were presented at the Concurso Internacional Amadeus de Composición Coral (Amadeus International Choral Competition, where the group succeeded in bringing Extremaduran culture and music to the rest of Spain, Europe, and Ibero-America. The concert will also include texts from Rainer Maria Rilke, James Agee, Edward Esch, José María Gabriel y Galán, and Federico García Lorca. The finale will be a version of L. V. Beethoven’s Ode to Joy (with words from Friedrich Schiller) officially adopted by the European Union as a European anthem.

Since it was set up on 9 April 1992, the Foundation has worked tirelessly on a number of activities in the fields of culture, research, education, and social commitment, to reach a peaceful, prosperous, stable, free, and democratic Europe, showing solidarity with the weakest citizens, committed to its citizens, and respectful of diversity; an organised and lively Europe which understands and takes on board the glories and errors of its past, and confidently looks towards the future as a time of peaceful coexistence.
Over the years, the Foundation has converted the Royal Monastery of Yuste into a meeting space for people coming from all over the world: a place where ideas come together, where visitors join on equal footing with the wisdom of our academics with their enthusiasm for learning from young people; a diverse, free enclave, committed to reflecting on the issues worrying European citizens, and a valuable conduit to project the image of Extremadura and Spain overseas. In this work, the Academy has carved out its position as an intellectual foundation in the process of European construction: something to which the Foundation is committed. Some of our academics are painter Antonio López; sociologists Abram de Swaan, Edgar Morin and Alain Touraine; historians, Gilbert Trausch, Paul Preston, Carmen Iglesias and Manuela Mendonça; Italian mathematician Edoardo Vesentini; gerontologist Ursula Lehr, theologist Hans Küng; Spanish scientist Margarita Salas; researcher Peter Piot; cardiologist Valentín Fuster; pianist María João Pires; politicians Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Marcelino Oreja and Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, and orchestra conductor Franz Welser-Möst, among other personalities.

Throughout this quarter of a century, the Foundation has organised hundreds of summer courses, seminars, meetings, events, exhibitions, and concerts, together with a number of Spanish and European networks and universities, above all with the University of Extremadura and always with close ties to Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage), the Orden de San Jerónimo (the Order of Saint Jerome) and the Orden de San Pablo Primer Eremita (the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit). To date, hundreds of students have come through the Foundation’s doors on scholarships to attend campus Yuste; eighty doctoral candidates have benefited from the European Research and Mobility Grants associated with the Carlos V European Award, which has allowed them to finish their doctoral theses, and these professionals are today joined to the Foundation through the Yuste Alumni Network. These are just some of the results achieved by the Foundation, which is recognised by the European Union as an Organisation of European Interest and works in the field of Exterior Action for the Regional Government of Extremadura.

And to give recognition to people, organisations, projects and initiatives that have contributed their efforts to the general understanding and promotion of European cultural and historical values, the Foundation introduced the European Carlos V Award. It has granted the award to ten illustrious personalities over the years: Jacques Delors, Wilfried Martens, Felipe González, Mijaíl Gorbachov, Jorge Sampaio, Helmut Kohl, Simone Veil, Javier Solana, José Manuel Durão Barroso and Sofía Corradi; plus the recipient of the latest edition, Marcelino Oreja Aguirre. As from this year the Award will be granted annually, presented on 9 May to coincide with Europe Day in a formal ceremony traditionally presided over by the King.

And the immediate future will see new horizons opening thanks to a merger with the Extremaduran Centre for Study and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI) which will come to form the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation. This new Foundation will serve as a connection point between Europe and Ibero-America and will have the goal of contributing to the promotion of democracy, respect for human rights, and the advancement of peace and international understanding; as well as comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable development for all the peoples and nations of the world, especially through the promotion of culture, research, the spreading of understanding, and the promotion of multilingualism.

Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity”. Shuman Declaration, 9 May 1950.

The European Academy of Yuste Foundation today opened its Campus Yuste programme with the ‘8th Yuste Encounters on Transition’, under the title ‘The lengthy process of European integration (1982-1996)’. It is organising the event for another year together with the University of Extremadura and King Juan Carlos University.

During the opening, Juan Carlos Moreno Piñero, Director of the Foundation, said that Spanish transition was “a common effort of renunciations and achievements” and said that we must look towards a Europe that is “free, democratic, and respectful of citizens”.

The opening conference was led by Ana Bosch, who was a public television correspondent in Moscow, Washington, and London, and was part of the team that created the European Euronews channel. The journalist explained that just as the United States used CNN as a diplomatic platform to launch its messages, Europe wanted to counteract that media heavyweight by creating “a great media project with financial support from Greece, Italy, Spain, France, and Switzerland”. In her opinion, “Europe’s very characteristics lessen the channel’s influential capacity” due to the need to re-broadcast in several languages, and the financial cost this entails.

Bosch ended her speech with three statements: “Europe is not easy to explain” and because of that, politicians and institutions should make a huge effort for them; the media needs to make more of an effort to educate and circulate awareness; and finally, citizens need to involve themselves more in the understanding of Europe.

The course will also explore the military coup and end of the UCD; European political dynamics and the socialist period (1982-1996); the influence of the French socialist experience on the policies of Felipe González’s first government; the role of the Spanish Government in integration into the European Economic Community (1982-1989); the projection of European Spain in Ibero-America; the process of Spain’s adhesion to the Council of Europe, which happened 40 years ago this year and was a landmark in the development of culture and human rights in Spain; Spanish film in the 1980s; the social shift in Spain during the 1980s; and analysis of whether transitions to democracies are familiar territory or an uncertain future.

The annual Encounters event, held at Yuste, aims to take stock of the changing perceptions of the Transition over time to the present day in Spain, Europe, and the world. The course will take place from 30-31 March, with the first day being held at the Royal Monastery of Yuste and the second day at the School of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Extremadura, at its Cáceres campus.

Speakers at the event include Anna Bosch, TVE journalist; Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, Ex-President of the Regional Government of Extremadura and member of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation; Pilar Barraca, from the Sub-Directorate General for the Protection of Historical Heritage for the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport; Alejandro Cercas, Ex-MEP; Susanne Gratius, researcher for the Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE), and University of Extremadura professors Enrique Moradiellos and Mario Díaz Barrado, with the latter being in charge of managing the Encounters.

The ‘Transition Encounters’ are organised by the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, and the University of Extremadura and King Juan Carlos University, with additional support from Histipres Research groups, CRINI y FRAMESPA, the Extremaduran Centre for Study and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI), the European Fund for Regional Development (European Union), the University of Nantes, the Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, the University of Almería, Patrimonio Nactional (National Heritage), and the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport.

© European Commission

The Encounters event will offer a multi-disciplinary perspective of current transitions in progress, mainly in Ibero-America, and experiences of transitions to democracy in light of new global challenges.

The European Academy of Yuste Foundation is opening its programme of educational activities with the 8th edition of the “Transition Encounters” with the title “The lengthy process of European integration (1982-1996). The annual conference held at Yuste aims to take stock of how perceptions of the transition have changed over time to the present day in Spain, Europe, and the world. The course will take place from 30-31 March, with the first day being held at the Royal Monastery of Yuste and the second at the School of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Extremadura, at its Cáceres campus.

The course will reflect on the decade of the 1980s being one of the most turbulent periods of Spain’s recent history, and from there will analyse the period from a historical and multi-disciplinary perspective. Significant social, economic, cultural, and political milestones took place throughout these years, allowing the consolidation of the democratic process in Spain, which had just approved a new constitution. Some of these events were: growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union; the fall of the Berlin wall, and developments in the European Communities which were at the time turning their gaze towards the south. This last development is one of the main themes to be debated in the year commemorating 60 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and 25 years since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, or the Treaty on European Union.

This will be the first year we will examine not only Spanish transition, but also current transitions in progress, paying particular attention to those in Ibero-America, and to how experiences of transitions to democracy can help us tackle the challenges of an increasingly uncertain future in light of major global challenges.

The Encounters will also examine the process of Spain’s membership to the Council of Europe 40 years ago, which was a key milestone for cultural development and the advancement of human rights in Spain.

Speakers at the event include Anna Bosch, TVE journalist; Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, Ex-President of the Regional Government of Extremadura and member of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation; Pilar Barraca, from the Sub-Directorate General for the Protection of Historical Heritage for the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport; Alejandro Cercas, Ex-MEP; Susanne Gratius, researcher for the Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE), and  University of Extremadura professors Enrique Moradiellos and Mario Díaz Barrado, with the latter being in charge of managing the Encounters.

There are a limited number of spaces available on the course, and places will be allocated to students on a first come, first served basis. It is free to register and you can sign up on the Foundation’s website: www.fundacionyuste.org

The “Transition Encounters” are organised by the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, the University of Extremadura and the King Juan Carlos University, with additional support from Histipres Research groups, CRINI y FRAMESPA, the Extremaduran Centre for Study and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI), the European Union’s European Fund for Regional Development, the University of Nantes, the Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, the University of Almería, National Heritage, and the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport.

The European Academy of Yuste Foundation is to participate in a debate and discussion under the slogan “Cómo hemos cambiado”, to be held on Friday 18th November at 12pm at the Fundación Mercedes Calles (Mercedes Calles Foundation) in Cáceres, to celebrate 2016 marking the thirtieth anniversary of Spain joining the EU.

Rosa Balas, President of the Foundation’s Executive Committee, and Director General of External Action for the Regional Government of Extremadura, will be taking part in the event organised by the Spanish Representation to the European Commission and the European Parliament Office in Spain. The event will provide a setting for Spanish people born before Spain’s entry to the EU and those born after to put forward their perspectives on how the country has changed since it joined the EU in 1986.

Teresa Chamorro will chair the debate, with additional participation from: Rosa Balas, Director General of External Action and President of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation’s Executive Committee; José Ángel Camisón Yagüe, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Extremadura; Juan Manuel Rodríguez Barrigón, Professor of Public International Law and International Relations at the University of Extremadura; and Rebeca Domínguez Cidoncha, Director of the “Europe Direct-Cáceres” Centre and Head of Cáceres Town Council’s Innovation department. Pablo Borrega, Communicator and Professor of Debating at CEU San Pablo University; Adolfo Chautón, consultant and founder of Emprendipia; Sara Dorado, blogger and entrepreneur; Fermín Solís, cartoonist and illustrator; and Daniel Velarde, entrepreneur and winner of the 2016 Yuzz award will also be taking part.

Members of the public attending the event will be invited to share their opinions via hand-held devices and social networks, which will play a significant role in how the agenda plays out.

The event will be open to the public until capacity is reached. The hashtags #comohemoscambiado, #yyavan30 and #CaceresUE will be used for the event, and you can follow the debate live via the European Commission in Spain’s official Facebook page (@comisioneuropea).

A similar event was held in Murcia in October and another will be held in Santander on 25th November.