At the opening ceremony of Matera, Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026, EcocNews interviewed Ms Dubravka ŠUICA, the European Union’s Commissioner for the Mediterranean. Below is the full text of her speech during the Opening.

Expressing oneself through the rhythm of percussion. Anyone can do it. After all, music, at the origins of the world, was born exactly this way—starting from sounds, at first random, then gradually more organized.

Asturias and Oviedo will host the eighteenth edition of the International Iberian Mask Festival (FIMI) this year, marking the first time since its creation in 2006 that the festival leaves Portugal to be held in another territory.

The Cáceres 2031 bid held a large-scale, intergenerational participatory event this Sunday, bringing together more than 200 people in the Plaza Mayor of Cáceres, consolidating the project as a space for real citizen involvement on the path to becoming the European Capital of Culture.

The mayor, Carolina Darias, the councilor for Culture, Josué Íñiguez, the councilor for Sports, Carla Campoamor, and the team from the LPGC'31 Technical Office, together with Sitapha Savané, president of the Club, present the collaboration agreement between the City Council and the sports organization.