ZAS, 13/11/2024. Costa da Morte Tourism Association (CMAT) values very positively the development of the 4th Annual Meeting of Tourism of the Costa da Morte, an event that has the financial support of the Xunta de Galicia, thanks to the collaboration agreement between CMAT and Turismo de Galicia, and that this year had numerous presentations on this year’s successes.
A positive balance of the year
The event, hosted by the journalist Francisco Rodríguez, began at 6 p.m. in the Pazo of Trasariz, in Vimianzo. During the event, there was an opportunity for CMAT to reflect on the development of its projects over the last year.
In this sense, during his speech to welcome the attendees, Manuel Muíño, president of the CMAT, wanted to highlight the importance of the role of people in the development of the Costa da Morte: ‘In addition to our sunsets, beaches and rivers and wild nature; the people who work every day in the development of this territory in different sectors, you are essential and the real architects of the successes of the Costa da Morte. With your enthusiasm and effort you make this territory grow every day’.
With regard to the milestones achieved this year, Muíño highlighted the holding of the 7th International Starlight Meeting on the Costa da Morte: ‘Since this Congress was organised, which was attended by people from all over the country, we have shown that it is possible to hold a big event on the Costa da Morte. We have accommodation capacity and we can show the world the great natural wealth of our territory. We have just opened a new route and now we have to continue working, but we have to feel very proud of this goal’.
Institutional involvement in the development of Costa da Morte
During the event, in addition to the intervention of Manuel Muíño, other institutional representatives participated as speakers, such as Raquel Sánchez, president of Paradores de Turismo de España; Xosé Manuel Merelles, director of Turismo de Galicia and Xosé Regueira, vice-president of the Provincial Council of A Coruña and deputy for Tourism.
Raquel Sánchez, president of Paradores de Turismo, thanked the CMAT for their welcome during her visit and wanted to recall the commitment of Paradores to tourism in the Costa da Morte: ‘The CMAT and the other institutions involved in the tourism development of the Costa da Morte have the support of the entire team of Paradores and more specifically of the Parador de Muxía, through its director Julio Castro. We will continue to work and to value the importance of public institutions as drivers of employment and quality tourism’.
Xosé Manuel Merelles, director of the Turismo de Galicia, highlighted the good data from the tourism sector in the region and in the Costa da Morte in particular: ‘The tourist development of the Costa da Morte is very positive, with a 13% growth in visitors in the last year. We hope that this progression will be consolidated and that tourism will continue to be one of the great strengths of the Costa da Morte for many years to come’.
Xosé Regueira, vice-president of the Provincial Council of A Coruña and deputy for Tourism, commented on several of the challenges that the province of A Coruña and the Costa da Morte will have to face in the future in terms of sustainability and employment: ‘Tourism in the province of A Coruña represents 14% of employment. In terms of tourism, we are a consolidated destination thanks to the coordination of the different institutions and the private sector. Thanks to this collaboration, we break records year after year. But in the coming years, due to climate change, people will seek to travel more to our destination as a climatic refuge, so it is important that we begin to articulate together a strategy for the future’.
The importance of a strong and organised private sector
From the private sector, both Pepe Formoso, president of the Association of Tourism Professionals of the Costa da Morte (APTCM) and secretary of the CMAT; and Begoña Fernández, from the company STOUPA, spoke during the event.
For Formoso, business associations are a key driving force for change in the development of tourism on the Costa da Morte: ‘Only by working together can we take forward the great challenges facing the Costa da Morte. The private sector is fundamental for this territory and we have to show that we have muscle. When we are able to use all our passion and effort to carry out our projects, that is when we show that the Costa da Morte is unique’. He also wanted to take advantage of the presence of the president of Paradores to request the maximum involvement of the Parador of the Costa da Morte with tourism in the area: ‘We ask Raquel Sánchez for the maximum involvement of the Parador of Muxía with tourism so that it opens its doors for as long as possible during the year. And that she can prescribe accommodation in the region when the Parador is fully occupied’.
Begoña Fernández, from the company STOUPA, was in charge of the Costa da Morte handicrafts exhibition and gave a brief account of the importance of handicrafts in our territory, in which she thanked the people who work in this sector: ‘Handicrafts form part of the living heritage of our territory thanks to the daily work of the artisans of the Costa da Morte, who think with their hands and work with their hearts to keep our traditions alive’.
The exhibition of craftsmanship showed different pieces of craftsmen from the Costa da Morte that demonstrate the quality and importance of this sector for employment, culture and development of the territory.
Awards of the 1st Photographic Competition ‘Costa da Morte, Naturally Wild’.
During the meeting, the finalist photographs of the first edition of this contest were also exhibited. When announcing the winners, María Lema, vice-president of the CMAT and member of the jury, wanted to highlight the variety and quality of the participating photographs.
As for the winning photographs, Daniel Mata, a resident of Madrid, won the Jury’s Prize after receiving the highest score with his photograph of the Roncudo Lighthouse at sunset. The jury highlighted ‘the good contrast, where a person sitting next to the lighthouse gives a mysterious touch to the photograph’. The other two finalist photographs were one by Rafael Quintáns, who captured a rainbow over the Ézaro waterfall; and one by Mara Aguilar, with a snapshot of a pilgrim next to the Sanctuary of the Virxe da Barca of Muxía on a day of heavy fog.
The Audience Award, meanwhile, was handed over to Uxía García Pereira, travel blogger from A Coruña, who with a vertical photograph of the imposing Furna Furada (Carballo), achieved more than 1,000 ‘likes’ in the Instagram publication with which she participated in the contest.
In addition to the exhibition of their photographs during the event and a diploma, the winners received as a prize a night for two people in an hotel on the Costa da Morte and a gastronomic experience.
For María Lema, the good participation of this first edition is great news: ‘From the CMAT Board, we would like to celebrate new editions of this contest to continue making visible the wild nature of the Costa da Morte and to know the point of view of the people who visit us and live here’.
Bieito Romero, new Ambassador of the Costa da Morte
To conclude this IV Tourism Meeting, the award of Costa da Morte Ambassador was given to the musician Bieito Romero, from the well-known group Luar na Lubre. After an intense ovation from the audience, Bieito Romero thanked for the recognition and reviewed the importance of the Costa da Morte in the trajectory of the music of his group: ‘This recognition is a great honour for me. I feel at home in the Costa da Morte and it is a very important part of my life’.
The speeches ended with Mónica Rodríguez, mayoress of Vimianzo, who wanted to thank all the attendees, professionals and workers for the effort to celebrate this IV Annual Tourism Meeting of the Costa da Morte and to highlight the value of the Costa da Morte as a territory: ‘The Costa da Morte has a lot to offer, and not only at a landscape level, but also through activities, gastronomy and our people. The hospitality of our land is key, because the Costa da Morte is not only a tourist destination, it is an experience to live with all five senses and that leaves a mark’.
After Mónica Rodríguez’s speech, the attendees were able to enjoy a live performance by Luar na Lubre, who performed well-known songs such as ‘Camariñas’, ‘Tu gitana’ and ‘Mártiros e o Vákner’.
