The Galician city of Lugo will be the epicentre of the European Union on Friday, where a continental-wide meeting on the demographic challenge will be held.
The meeting is framed within the Spanish Presidency of the Council of Europe, and in which there will be the presence of the vice president of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, the acting Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and several secretaries of State. The objective of the conference is to promote a common strategy to address the challenges of the future from a local perspective in which the Lugo groups will contribute their vision.
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo, the fourth most populous city in Galicia.
The Mayor’s Office of Lugo has prepared Friday’s event, which will be held in O Vello Cárcere, and will have a first part in which longevity and demographic challenges in the European Agenda will be discussed, while the second will delve into the silver economy (which seeks solutions to the problems of aging) and healthcare problems.
In this way, after the inaugural speeches of the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; of the EU Commissioner for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica, and the mayor of Lugo, Lara Méndez , the technical part of the meeting will begin in which leading figures in the field will evaluate the current situation and present future models.
In the first panel, the participation of the advisor of the European Economic Social Council, Miguel Ángel Cabra Luna, as well as that of Francisco Machancoses, deputy director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, has already been confirmed. Both will share a table with representatives of the associative fabric. The approximate duration of the panel will be one hour.
Now in the second and last session of the day, in which the silver economy and the healthcare problem will be the central topics. The director of Imserso, Luis Alberto Barriga, and Juan Martin, coordinator of the CENIE of the University of Salamanca, will be there. Business leaders from the healthcare sector will also participate in this table. The closing of the event will be carried out by the Secretary of State for the European Union, Pascual Navarro, and the Secretary of Social Rights, Ignacio Álvarez.
This high-level European meeting hosted by Lugo is part of the program designed by the central government on the occasion of the Spanish presidency of the EU, which will end on December 31. “Lugo will be, together with Vigo (Fishing) and Santiago (Economy and Finances), one of the three Galician capitals where the representatives of the main European countries will meet, thus contributing to the projection of our city as a benchmark in the field of assistance,” said the mayor. Lara Méndez pointed out that the “goal is that this working day, together with another that will take place in Madrid, can be used to promote a project with a renewed strategy for the elderly, hence, in addition to high-ranking European officials, we are also expecting participation of well-known experts and groups from Lucerne”.
