The San Fernando Axis: A Model of Multilateralism to Strengthen Culture in Alicante Province

Alicante aims to establish a new urban space where culture serves as a driving force for revitalisation. This is the cultural axis planned for San Fernando Street, a project that also exemplifies multilateralism and coordination among various organisations, with the ambition to become a replicable model in other parts of the city, and even the province. TodoAlicante has gathered representatives from four of the six signatory entities of this initiative at its forum 'Education and Culture, Values for a Progressing Society'.

These entities include the Alicante Provincial Council, represented by its Culture Deputy, Juan de Dios Navarro; the Mediterranean Foundation, with its president, Luís Boyer; the University of Alicante's City Campus, through its director, Jorge Olcina; the Juan Gil-Albert Institute—dependent on the Provincial Council—represented by Candela Sánchez, a member of its Humanities Department; and the Alicante Territorial College of Architects, with its president, Emilio Vicedo. They were all accompanied by journalist and writer María José Marcos.

As the host, with the forum held at the Mediterranean Foundation's headquarters, Luís Boyer argued that such initiatives should be ambitious yet prudent to avoid friction among the different stakeholders involved. He also highlighted the unifying role played by some of the participating entities in promoting culture, such as the Mediterranean Foundation itself, thanks to its various locations across the province and its specific cultural programming. "We must promote culture because it distances us from the mundane, which can sometimes be overwhelming."

Emilio Vicedo, on his part, stated that such initiatives do not require significant financial investment but rather proper coordination of schedules and content to avoid counterprogramming. He also mentioned infrastructures with the potential to become major cultural hubs, such as La Británica, a project with international aspirations for which he proposed launching an international architectural competition to drive its transformation.

Similarly, Professor Jorge Olcina expressed that the San Fernando cultural axis could extend to other parts of the city. "In this phase, we must promote dissemination through social media and the website to give visibility to the initiative. Management will follow, which is more complex, but together with all the stakeholders involved, we will achieve it."

From an institutional perspective, Juan de Dios Navarro incorporated tourism into this cultural equation, recalling that the initiative also aims to attract some of the over 18 million passengers passing through Alicante-Elche airport each year. "The province of Alicante is much more than sun and beach. We have successfully promoted both the interior of our territory and culture through museums and archaeological sites distributed throughout the province. Alicante returns every euro it receives in investment many times over."

A clear example of cultural dynamism is the temporary loan to MUBAG by the Prado Museum of a portrait of Rafael Altamira, painted by Joaquín Sorolla. The exhibition of this work will open this Sunday with an event at the Alicante museum at 12 noon.

Candela Sánchez, for her part, advocated for the work of the Juan Gil-Albert Institute as a starting point to bring culture even to places where it has never been present. To this end, she spoke of the rule of the three 'C's: "create, communicate, and collaborate, all in favour of culture."

Finally, writer María José Marcos highlighted the sometimes overlooked cultural potential of Alicante, especially in the literary field, with authors and publishers of great trajectory who are still little known to the general public. She also called for greater institutional support for emerging creative talents in the province, urging the Administration for more decisive backing.