Seville has today received the baton of 2024 presidency of the Ariane Cities Network from the city of Vernon. The Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, received the baton on behalf of the city from the Mayor of Vernon, François Ouzilleau, in the Lower Chapter House of the Town Hall. The ceremony was also attended by Gael Winters, Director General of the Community of Ariane Cities (CVA), Miguel Ángel Yagüe Vázquez, Director of Programmes and Operations at AIRBUS Defence and Space, Raúl Medina, Head of Launcher Programmes (TSOY) at Airbus, and 20 other European members.
On the occasion of the handover of the Presidency, the Mayor of Seville received the Vernon Medal from his French counterpart, as well as two models of the European launchers being developed in the Normandy city, an Ariane 6 and a Vega. Mr Sanz, for his part, presented Mr Ouzilleau with a ceramic piece representing Seville’s traditional industry and a sample of the city’s current aerospace industry, represented by a model of the A400M, developed by Airbus, and the SEOSAT, the Spanish Earth observation satellite.
“By holding this handover ceremony here, we want to celebrate Seville’s status as a benchmark in the field of communication and exploration. Today, this benchmark looks to the sky, to the space sector, as we have become the European Space Capital”, said the Mayor, José Luis Sanz.
Boosting the space sector in Seville
“We want this 2024 to give the space sector in Seville the boost it needs to become the aerospace capital of Southern Europe”, said the mayor, who highlighted the involvement of the Ariane Cities Community and the great reference of Seville’s space industry, Airbus, in the organisation of this Presidency.
In addition to the important events on the agenda of the AVC itself, Seville’s presidency will include events such as the first meeting of the Bureau, which took place yesterday and today in Seville; the two meetings of the mayors of the Ariane Cities, to be held in April and November; a major technical conference on the aerospace sector; the pioneering network for professional women in the sector, the Woman from Ariane Cities Aerospace Meeting; and the first summer school for students from the AVC cities, thanks to the collaboration of the University of Seville.
To these initiatives must be added the more than 50 activities promoted by the Space Forum, a platform made up of more than 40 entities from Seville and Andalusia, united by a single concern: to contribute to the projection of space reality. This platform is a perfect example of public-private cooperation, made up of entities of a very diverse nature. This public-private vocation is also reflected in the fact that Airbus is the main sponsor of this Presidency.
