The interview is with Pilar Tassara Andrade, Director-General of the Granada European Capital of Culture 2031 Consortium.

Why did the city decide to be the European Capital of Culture?
The city of Granada is distinguished by its rich heritage, vibrant cultural scene, and robust scientific ecosystem. However, it exhibits a striking imbalance, known as the "Granada paradox," in which the city achieves results in research and cultural activity that do not align with its economic and demographic weight, or with the low employment levels reflected year after year in statistical data.

Geographically, as well as in terms of social perception, Granada finds itself in a peripheral position and somewhat isolated from artistic circuits and major international debates.

Furthermore, Granada shares common European problems and challenges, such as the acceleration of climate change, growing social polarization, the management of immigration, and the challenges posed by an undiversified tourism model that alters traditional ways of life.

In this context, and convinced of the power of culture to catalyse changes across all levels, the European Capital of Culture is envisioned as an opportunity for the transformation of the social and cultural ecosystem that the city and its surrounding area require. This transformation places European values of democracy, inclusion, and sustainability at its core, addressing challenges shared with other European cities and territories while laying the groundwork for a new relational model between culture, science, and the citizenry.

What changes are expected to the reference community?
Granada 2031 offers opportunities for capacity building, networking, and internationalization for creators and cultural managers, thereby strengthening the cultural ecosystem and enhancing the city's ability to attract and retain talent.

The ECoC project genuinely engages citizens so that they cease to be mere recipients of cultural action and become key protagonists and co-creators of the programming—reinforcing community bonds and contributing to a heightened sense of belonging and openness to Europe.

For its part, the decentralized and inclusive cultural programming facilitates accessibility and the participation of all citizens in cultural life regardless of their background, place of residence, or capabilities. Simultaneously, it strengthens the capacity to generate new proposals among citizen collectives and cultural agents throughout the provincial territory, as well as the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

In parallel, initiatives aimed at redistributing tourist flows will help relieve pressure on saturated areas of the city, enabling both visitors and temporary residents to experience the cultural and natural diversity of the city's various neighbourhoods, the metropolitan area, and the entire province of Granada. Furthermore, this strategy will facilitate improved social cohesion and the preservation of traditional lifeways and knowledge within the historic centre.

What are the three keywords of your cultural program?
Knowledge, Inspiration, and Hybridization.

What are the main citizen involvement activities?
From its inception, Granada 2031 has been conceived as a shared, open, and distributed process in which collective intelligence acts as a driver of cultural innovation, social cohesion, and territorial development, integrating culture, knowledge, and citizenship.

Thanks to a participatory process developed continuously since 2017, it can be affirmed that Granada's civil society has not only been involved in the candidacy, but has acted as a co-creator of its concept, values, and strategic lines, positioning citizens as active protagonists and primary ambassadors of the project.

This capacity for participation builds upon the city's solid prior experience in citizen engagement, social innovation, and collaborative governance. The primary instrument within this ecosystem is LabIN Granada, an urban Living Lab launched in 2017 by the University of Granada through Medialab UGR. This social innovation laboratory combines digital environments and physical spaces to facilitate participatory co-creation processes among citizens, researchers, artists, municipal technicians, and policymakers.

Within this framework, the II Impronta Andalucía Forum took place in June 2026. This initiative represents the regional scale-up across Andalusia of a pioneering experience born in the province of Granada, designed to connect university knowledge with the concrete challenges of institutions and society. It generates more useful, contextualized, and impact-oriented responses in line with the objectives of Granada 2031.

Nearly 100 people participated in this II Impronta Forum, sharing perspectives and solutions to common challenges across the following working groups: Development of cultural industries and cultural entrepreneurship; Evaluation and monitoring mechanisms for culture; Urban-rural relationships in cultural development & Sustainability and living heritage; Participatory governance of culture and heritage; Education and culture; and Tourism and territorial development. The conclusions from these panels have informed the conceptual approaches and cultural proposals of the candidacy program.

On another front, local residents are the central figures of the "Culture and Citizenship: The European Capital of Culture in the Districts" program, channelled through the City Council's Citizen Participation Area in collaboration with all citizen collectives across the city's eight districts. These groups have designed activities aligned with the social and cultural interests of their respective areas and consistent with the candidacy's European values, set to take place throughout the autumn of 2026. The proposal seeks to transform each neighbourhood into a living stage where sustainability, inclusion, and democratic participation serve as core structural pillars.

In parallel, Granada 2031 is promoting a program of cultural activities across the province in collaboration with the Provincial Council of Granada and rural development associations present in the eight regions of the provincial territory. These associations

represent over 800 citizen groups—focused on cultural heritage, agroecology, active tourism, rural women, among others—through which initiatives favouring territorial development through culture and civic cohesion are being channelled, contributing to the fight against demographic challenges and fostering a sense of belonging to Europe.

Finally, the citizens and the broader socio-cultural fabric of Granada are equally central in numerous activities being carried out in collaboration with artistic collectives. These include the participatory activity Beyond 2031, held as part of the Lateral Art Fair; the ceramics tournament organized by the Ceramics Festival, where children and grandparents shared a rewarding intergenerational experience; the Pa-ta-ta Festival, which is promoting a collaborative photo collection across all city neighbourhoods in partnership with local residents associations to recover and highlight collective memory and identity; and the activity organized by the UNESCO Granada City of Literature program on World Poetry Day, which featured the participation of over 100 professional and amateur poets residing in Granada.

What do you hope to remain after the capital year?
The ECoC will undoubtedly leave a major impact on the city, but we hope a significant part of that legacy will be a new way of acting and engaging within Europe. Operating from the southern border of the continent with culture as a common thread, and through stable forums for debate and dialogue, we aim to generate responses to global challenges that can be replicated in other contexts.

Furthermore, the new models of participatory governance being developed by Granada 2031 will leave behind a stable, open laboratory for governance. In this space, cultural agents, professional associations, and public and private institutions from the fields of culture and knowledge will work hand-in-hand with citizen collectives, bridging the gap between audiences, creators, and programmers with a more horizontal and equitable vision of cultural access, creation, and participation in alignment with the Culture Compass for Europe and the New European Bauhaus.

Similarly, the consolidation of citizen creative laboratories across different districts of the city will form part of the 2031 legacy, contributing to more cohesive, inclusive, and attractive environments for residents and visitors alike, while strengthening the links between culture and physical and emotional well-being.

Finally, Granada 2031 will leave behind mechanisms to strengthen the capacities of professionals in the cultural and creative sectors, supporting knowledge transfer, professional recognition, and talent retention.