Elena Espino: "this edition has a more informative teaching program, but also a scientific and international part. All of them are activities that energize the cultural activity of the municipality"
The Rector of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lluís Serra Majem, presided over the opening ceremony of the 30th Maspalomas Summer University, held at the Maspalomas Cultural Center. Speakers included María Elena Espino Santana, Councilor for Culture and Historical Heritage of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council; Inés Jiménez Martín , Second Vice President of the Gran Canaria Island Council ; María Dolores Rodríguez González , Deputy Minister of Education, Universities and Sports of the Canary Islands Government; and Germán Santana Pérez, Director of the Maspalomas Summer University.
"For me it is a pleasure to be at this event celebrating the 30th anniversary," said Lluís Serra. "Those of us who are dedicated to science and culture know the difficulties involved in launching an initiative like this, which has institutional and private support. The continuity that the Maspalomas Summer University has had is a true miracle that "We are all happy."
In his speech, the rector said that the university serves society to transfer and exchange knowledge for society. "The transfer of knowledge allows us to deepen our involvement with society."
He highlighted that the ULPGC, born from society, is very well positioned in the ranking of Spanish universities, "we are leaders in our country, for its contribution to social development. The university is the way to learn, research, serve and transform. The best EBAU students study at this University," said Serra.
The Councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council , Elena Espino Santana, thanked the speakers from all editions for their participation in the oldest summer university in the Canary Islands. "This edition has a more educational program focused on outreach, but also a scientific and international component, such as the International Tourism Congress organized by ITSA and the ULPGC, which will bring together, for the first time in Spain, nearly one hundred experts and researchers in tourism."
He also highlighted the celebration of the eighth edition of the international Camp organized by Rotarians, which will have thirty students from various countries; the International Trumpet Festival, the most important in Europe, in which prominent professors will offer master classes and concerts; the Canarias Jazz&Más Festival, which will be held at the Maspalomas Lighthouse, and the Soul Festival, on San Agustín beach. "All of these are activities that energize the cultural activity of the municipality," said Elena Espino.
For her part, Inés Jiménez congratulated all the organizers for these 30 years of continuous work and remembered José Juan Santana, who was its promoter, with the aim of creating an activity "to promote Maspalomas as a tourist municipality and as a place to enhance discourse, debate and reflection". Jiménez said that in these 30 years more than 900 activities have been carried out, with the participation of more than 30.000 people, including students and speakers in different courses and workshops.
He also thanked the work of all its directors, such as Román Reyes, José Antonio Younis, José Angel Gil Jurado, Santiago Hernández León, Michel Jorge Millares, Guillermo Morales Matos and Germán Santana, "for their efforts in mobilizing and organizing resources and people , to present a program, with the aim of strengthening Maspalomas as a tourist destination. Finally, Inés Jiménez wanted to reiterate the support of the Cabildo, which has participated from the beginning, and will continue to do so in future editions, "to share our political co-responsibility at the highest academic level".
In her speech, the Deputy Minister of Education, Universities and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, María Dolores Rodríguez González, congratulated the Maspalomas Summer University on its 30th anniversary, which it celebrates "with the same desire and the same will to offer training of quality outside the classrooms".
He stated that "along with this interest in providing the program with courses and workshops for all families, the condition of improving the lineup of speakers each year has been maintained," highlighting the presence of writers such as Leonardo Padura, Alexis Ravelo, the expert in Nutrition, Javier Aranceta, or the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, María Reyes Maroto. He congratulated the San Bartolomé City Council for the summer school offering, highlighting the variety of its themes, the activities for all ages and its sensitivity in reducing tuition prices, which already guarantees the success of this edition.
The director of the Maspalomas Summer University, Germán Santana, stated that to celebrate the 30th anniversary “we have prepared a special edition to obtain knowledge, combine it with leisure and recover the public. That is why the program offers a range of courses and workshops, for adults and for the little ones. Furthermore, for the first time the program has an excursion outside the Island, with the excursion to La Palma, which has been very successful, since all the places were filled.” He recalled that this year, students have great discounts, both on tuition, accommodation in hotel resorts and transportation, thanks to Global. To conclude, Santana highlighted the quality of the speakers. "We want to show an international vocation but combining it with the presence of researchers and teachers from the Canary Islands."
Inaugural conference
Next, María Teresa Cáceres Lorenzo offered the conference 'Spanish as an economic resource in the Canary Islands' in which the ULPGC professor presented the data obtained in different research and international stays, on whether it is convenient to add new tourist offers in the Canary Islands with the available resources.
“The answers to this question show that the Canary Islands can also add the offer of language tourism, as has happened in other pan-Hispanic regions. The feasibility of this proposal is supported by the different models of language tourism, which include different actions associated not only with the generation of employment, but also with solidarity and the construction of a more egalitarian society," explained the professor of the Department of Hispanic, Classical Philology and Arabic and Oriental Studies of the ULPGC.
In conclusion, Teresa Cáceres indicated that it is viable to add new tourist offers with the available resources, since in the Canary Islands "we have experience in the tourism sector, the Canarian is part of the Spanish of the future and we have resources to implement it like the ULPGC."
To end the event, a cocktail was offered, enlivened by the performance of the group 'Aguayro', formed by Alba Gil and José Carlos Cejudo, who performed compositions by Alba Gil and songs with influences from punkyrock, pop, hip hop and Canarian folklore.
Program for Monday, July 4
The day on Monday, July 4, will begin with the Course 'How to achieve an unbeatable personality to speak in public with performing pleasure', which will be taught by public speaking expert Ángel Lafuente. Tony Gallardo Park will be the setting for the Workshop, especially dedicated to children, 'A Pirate, the Attack of Francis Drake'.
At 10:00 a.m. the course 'Physical activity in different social contexts and its contribution to improving the quality of life' will begin, with the conference, at 10:00 a.m., 'Physical exercise as a healthy behavior of life', which will be taught by Antonio S. Ramos Gordillo, professor of Sports Medicine and Physical Activity and Health at the ULPGC, doctor specializing in Physical Education and Sports Medicine and president of the Canary Islands Anti-Doping Commission.
Next, Lidia Suárez Rodríguez and Marta Ramos Sosa will speak (10:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.), with the conference 'The Impact of the diseases that accompany us and how physical exercise modifies them'. Lidia Suárez is a doctor specializing in Physical Education and Sports Medicine and a doctor at the Traumatology Service of San Roque University Hospitals, and Marta Ramos Sosa is a doctor specializing in Family and Community Medicine and a doctor at the Guanarteme Health Center of the Canary Islands Service. Health. At 12:00 the presentation 'How we get confused: the use of doping drugs to improve sports results' will begin, given by Antonio S. Ramos Gordillo.
At 10:00 a.m., nutritionist Javier Aranceta and gastronome Vanessa Santana will teach the course on 'New challenges of Scientific Gastronomy: the 7 S's of healthy eating', which will be held at the Maspalomas Cultural Center. The course on 'Responsible Animal Ownership, A Challenge for the XNUMXst Century' will begin later in the afternoon at the Víctor Miranda Municipal Pavilion in San Fernando.
The XXX edition of the Maspalomas Summer University is organized by the City Council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Rights, Equality, Diversity and Youth of the Government of the Canary Islands, Casa África and the Social Council of the ULPGC. Likewise, they collaborate
GLOBAL, Moda Cálida, Rotary International, Instituto del Cine Canarias, Fundación Parque Científico Tecnológico, CANALUZ, Primicia bookstore, RIU Hotels, Grupo Dunas, LopesanGroup, Gloria Thalasso&Hotels, SeasideHotels and BungalowsVistaflor.