The mayoress of A Coruña, Inés Rey, took part this Wednesday in the opening day of WOMEX, the most important music event for professionals in the world, which is bringing together more than 3,000 people in the city these days. During her speech, Rey stressed that "the city of A Coruña and this event, WOMEX, share the same idea of globalism, as we are one of the few cities located on the open sea, which gives us a special and open view of the world".

The opening ceremony kicked off at the Palacio de la Ópera at 20:00 with speeches from the authorities, including the director of WOMEX, Alex Walter; the director of the Galician Agency for Cultural Industries (AGADIC), Jacobo Sutil; and the city councillor of A Coruña herself, Inés Rey.

Afterwards, the show 'Resounding Picasso. Celebrating The Master's Journey' took place in honour of the painter Pablo Picasso on the 142nd anniversary of his birth on 25 October. The musical performances were given by Niño Josele, Caamaño&Ameixeiras, Karmento and Tarta Relena; four groups from the four places that served as inspiration for his work: Málaga, A Coruña, Castilla-La Mancha and Barcelona.

A Coruña, a city with a modernist spirit and a strong local identity

The mayoress of A Coruña also took advantage of her speech to emphasize that the city was able to host WOMEX23 because of its modernist spirit and strong local identity. These characteristics, among others, make A Coruña "a great reference point for music in Spain and a leader in Galicia", said the mayoress. "The celebration of WOMEX 2023 is the culmination of a year of immense activity, of great festivals that, in their totality, have an added value: the city itself. We don't understand music without its surroundings, and that's why we have turned A Coruña's rich urban heritage into an added attraction," stressed Inés Rey.

A heritage closely linked, the councillor emphasized, to the artistic expressions of the most important painter of the 20th century, Pablo Ruíz Picasso. The artist lived in the city of A Coruña between 1891 and 1895, decisive years in his adolescence in which he developed his technique and forged his artistic vision through the people he met and the places he discovered, such as the port of A Coruña or the Tower of Hercules, which he drew.

The full programme of WOMEX 2023 is available here:

https://www.womex.com/programme/overview