Goya and Cariñena toast the title of European City of Wine 2025

The European City of Wine 2025, Cariñena, has celebrated its title together with the main authorities, representatives of the Aragonese economy and society and the entire wine sector, as well as senior institutional officials such as the President of the Government of Aragon , Jorge Azcón; the President of the Provincial Council of Zaragoza, Juan Antonio Sánchez Quero; the President of the Cortes of Aragon, Marta Fernández; and the Government delegate in Aragon, Fernando Beltrán.

Among all these personalities, there was also Francisco de Goya, who, played by the singer and actor Augusto González, member of the well-known group B Vocal, was in charge of opening the gala that took place in the Olimpia cinema in Cariñena and that had many surprises to inaugurate the extensive programme of events that will be held throughout the year. Goya assured in his speech that the celebration of the title of European City of Wine 2025 will “put the Cariñena region and the Designation of Origin on the world map”. 

The passion for his land and for its wines was present in all the stages of Francisco de Goya’s life, “until the end of his days.” “When he lived in Zaragoza he always enjoyed wine and his friends, and then in Madrid he longed for his hometown and the lands of Cariñena, all its products. And he boasted about this wine in court before the great kings who ruled the world, it was always in his heart and mind,” stresses Augusto González.

In his speech, he therefore defended these values ​​and recalled that he was a “very European character, a painter who not only trained in Spain but also travelled to Italy and ended his days in France”. For his alter ego at the gala, “Goya was always open to the world, just like Cariñena, and even more so with this appointment as European City of Wine”. González had already taken on the role of the Aragonese painter in Brussels last November, to successfully defend Cariñena’s candidacy before the RECEVIN assembly.

ACTIVITIES AT THE GALA

The gala held on Saturday afternoon included performances by the renowned jota dancer Nacho del Río, the soprano Beatriz Gimeno, the pianist Miguel Ángel Tapia, the prestigious dancer Miguel Ángel Berna and the young couple of jota dancers, Alejandra Ezpeleta and Hugo Vijuesca. Finally, three well-known masters of ceremonies, Patricia Luquín, Mariano Navascués and Álex Aldea.

There was also a video greeting from the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, who highlighted “the work of the Government of Aragon, the City Council of Cariñena and the Cariñena Designation of Origin”. “A Designation with so much tradition and history and that has been able to innovate, of which all Aragonese and Spanish people are proud, is a magnificent example”, said the minister.

Celebrities such as Ainhoa ​​Arteta, María Galiana, Pepe Viyuela, Rozalén, Luisa Gavasa, Antón Castro and Luz Gabás also sent congratulatory videos for the title. The gala also presented the Campo de Cariñena Wine Route, concluding with a toast from all attendees to the success of Cariñena European City of Wine 2025.

SERGIO ORTIZ: “WE ARE A LAND OF NONCONFORMISTS”

At the institutional inauguration, the mayor of Cariñena, Sergio Ortiz, stressed that this celebration “has to be the beginning of a new way of approaching wine culture in Cariñena and its Denomination of Origin and of promoting our excellent wines.” “We are a land of nonconformists, as the slogan of our Denomination says, but also a land of brave people who have always known how to cultivate the vines and make the wines that the market demanded,” he said.

Likewise, he pointed out that Cariñena and its region “are going to be filled with events, which with wine as the common thread, will have to do with sport, the arts, culture, training …” Ortiz thanked the institutions “of the Government of Aragon, the Provincial Council and all the groups that make up the Cortes of Aragon” for their support to the Denomination and its other 15 municipalities and, in particular, “to the other wine capitals in Aragon”.

Azcón, for his part, stressed that wines are “an unmistakable hallmark of Aragon, like the Pyrenees, the Ebro, the Virgen del Pilar or the Teruel ham, because our land has ideal characteristics for the production of very high quality wines”, and he stressed that they are “a window to Aragon”. For the president, “Cariñena wines, thanks to the character that this land provides and the commitment of its producers, are among the best in the world. They are a calling card for Aragon and one of our many gastronomic treasures, which is why we have the duty to protect and promote them”.

The President of Aragon also highlighted his Government’s commitment “to promoting a sector that not only supports our rural environment, but also defines our identity” and ended by toasting Cariñena, its status as the wine capital, and “a bright future for a sector as ours as the wine sector.”

In his speech, the President of the Provincial Council of Zaragoza stressed the need to take urgent measures to support the wine sector . “If the administrations involved are not able to generate synergies and added value so that farmers do not charge less than cost for grapes, we will have failed,” he warned. He stressed that “the celebration must be held with the real protagonists, with the winegrowers.”

He has announced that the Provincial Council of Zaragoza is going to increase by 600,000 euros, from 1 to 1.6 million, the amount included in its budget to support Cariñena as a European City of Wine. “We are going to allocate one million euros to finance investments aimed at winegrowers, wineries, the DO Cariñena and the establishments adhering to its Wine Route and we will also contribute another 600,000 euros to launch a programme to promote and disseminate the wines of the province” , he announced.

For Rosa Melchor, president of Recevin and Acevin, “it is very important that the European City of Wine 2025 be a Spanish city, that it be Cariñena, a small municipality in the province of Zaragoza and the community of Aragon because what we aim for with this type of appointment is to turn it into an opportunity for success and that is what is happening in this case.”

Melchor said: “I know that there has been a lot of work in presenting the candidacy and that all the activities related to this celebration are already prepared and organised so that everyone can get to know Cariñena and with it the Wine Route, and each and every one of the European wine cities will be represented there.”

ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE PROGRAMMING

The opening gala was the starting signal for a wide-ranging programme that will offer numerous events in very diverse fields until December. In this sense, education and training in viticulture and oenology is one of the most important lines of action to consolidate the region as a leading training centre.

The Viticulture Classroom, organised by the Universidad Popular de Cariñenas, will take place; the Viticulture and Oenology Technical Conference, in collaboration with European wine-growing cities; the extraordinary course of the University of Zaragoza: “An introduction to the economy of wine”; and the EuAWE conference, with experts in wine economy. In addition, the conference “Cariñena Rural. La Cultura Vivida” will offer talks and shows related to the future of the rural environment.

Culture will have a special role, with moments such as the premiere of the film “Cariñena, vino del mar”, based on the novel by Antón Castro; and cinema will be combined with gastronomy in the IV Jornadas de Cine, Gastro y Vino (4th Film, Gastro and Wine Days). The visual arts will arrive with two competitions, the XVII Ciudad de Cariñena Painting Prize and the I Photographic Rally; literature and theatre within the Aragón Negro Festival – the writer Julia Navarro will be present and the play “El Nido” by Juan Bolea will be performed-; and the Danza Mínima festival will offer performances in unique spaces such as wineries and squares. One of the central moments will be a cultural festival that fuses wine, music and art next to the historic sanctuary of the Virgen de Lagunas.

Another goal is to consolidate avenues for innovation and entrepreneurship with the creation of the Rural Innovation Laboratory and Ecosystem, a coworking space linked to viticulture. The University of Zaragoza will also host an extraordinary course entitled “New methodologies for the development of cultural projects in rural areas”.

Naturally, wine tourism will be a priority, with numerous proposals for different experiences. The DO Cariñena Wine Museum will open its doors after a complete renovation. A unique event will be the Night of Star Gazing and Tasting, which will combine astronomical observation with wine tasting in historic enclaves.

On World Wine Tourism Day, the activity “Watercolours among vineyards” will be held, in which different artists will capture the wine landscape on their canvases. Meanwhile, in the XI Tapas and Wine Competition, bars and restaurants will compete with gastronomic creations paired with DO wines. The programme has not forgotten children either and has presented the La Viñadora children’s snack, which will tour the local festivals and events of the municipalities of the DO.

Finally, the celebration of Cariñena as European City of Wine will also seek international promotion, with the presence of local products at European events such as the Spangenberg Fair (Germany), the Rupea Castle Festival (Romania) and the Saint Pierre d’Oléron Christmas Market (France). Cariñena will also host the prestigious international competition Garnachas del Mundo, in May, and the Assembly of the Spanish Confederation of Wine Regulatory Councils of Aragon (CECRV).