Segovia and San Bartolomé de Tirajana celebrate three decades of twinning and friendship, commemorating their shared history

 

The city councils of Segovia and San Bartolomé de Tirajana have commemorated 30 years of municipal twinning and friendship between their towns with the celebration of various events in the capital of that province of the Castile and León community located at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama and known worldwide for its famous Roman aqueduct.

The representation of the Gran Canaria municipality in this commemoration, made up of a group of 60 people, has been headed by the deputy mayor and councilor of Presidency and Culture, Elena Álamo Vega, who in all the meetings held with the authorities of the City Council and localities of Segovia and of the Provincial Council of Segovia has stressed "the fundamental importance that people, more than the administrative institutions themselves, have had and continue to have in the validity of this twinning."

In that regard, at the official reception at the Segovia City Hall, the Deputy Mayor and Councillor for the Presidency of San Bartolomé de Tirajana stated to the Councillors for Culture and Social Services of Segovia, Juan Carlos Monroy Jiménez and Azucena Suárez del Pozo, respectively, that this anniversary “represents the celebration of 30 years of shared history, of encounters, hugs and journeys of people who have believed in something as simple and powerful as friendship.”

“This twinning was not born only in an office and from a protocol, but from the enthusiasm of many specific people, men and women who decades ago began to meet and share paths, and who discovered the strength of their bonds despite the sea and the kilometer distance,” Elena Álamo stated before the president of the Provincial Council, Miguel Ángel de Vicente, and the institutional representatives of the Provincial Council and the Segovian City Council at the traditional fraternal dinner shared by the Segovian Walkers Association and the Canary Islands Aboriginal Bartenders Association.

 

 

“It is only right to acknowledge all of them: those who finally committed to the twinning in 1996, those who sustained it in subsequent years, and those who, through quiet work, have maintained it to this day. Thanks to the Association of Aboriginal Bartenders of the Canary Islands and the Association of Segovian Walkers, because you have made this possible,” said Elena Álamo, also remembering Ángel Marrero Rivero, former president of the bartenders and one of the driving forces behind the twinning project. He received the Gold Medal of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and passed away in November 2025.

Hiking and cocktails

“This twinning is special because it has transcended the institutional to reach the personal friendship of the families, and that is what truly matters. Bonds born from human connection endure over time. This 30th anniversary is a new impetus and a new opportunity to continue building the future, growing together by sharing culture, tradition, and spirit. These 30 years have taught us that distance does not separate when there is a will to come together, and that communities grow when they share,” stated Elena Álamo.
The twinning between San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Segovia, formalized institutionally in 1996 by the two city councils, has its roots in the first walks promoted more than 40 years ago by the Segovian Walkers and the Gran Canaria bartenders from Madrid to Segovia and from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Maspalomas, arising from the friendship they formed between them in the cocktail competitions organized by the Association of Waiters of Segovia. 

Among the highlights of the anniversary celebrations were the formal meeting with the mayor of El Espinar, Javier Figueredo; the traditional tour through the valleys of the Eresma and Clamores rivers; the visit to the Sanctuary of Fuencisla; the Folkloric Festival of the Segovian Wanderers at the Juan Bravo Theater to benefit the Spanish Association Against Cancer in Segovia; the inauguration of the commemorative exhibition celebrating 40 years of friendship between Segovia and Maspalomas in the Patio de Columnas of the Provincial Palace; the official reception at the Segovia City Hall; the traditional Canarian dinner and the Villalar Festival; and visits to the towns of Pedraza and Sepúlveda.

Physical landmarks of this twinning include the Maspalomas Park in the Segovian town of Chatún, the Maspalomas street in Hontanares de Eresma and the plow installed in the Plaza de Santo Tomás in Segovia, and the monument dedicated to the Aqueduct of Segovia in a tourist roundabout in Maspalomas.