What is the European Capital of Culture?
The European Capital of Culture is an initiative of the European Union which, since 1985, has recognised different cities each year that place culture at the heart of their development.
More than 60 cities have already held this title, now one of the most influential cultural distinctions on the continent.
After a 2025 in which Chemnitz, in Germany, and Nova Gorica–Gorizia, on the border between Slovenia and Italy, delivered their cultural programmes, the baton passes in 2026 to Oulu in Finland, Trenčín in Slovakia and Budapest in Hungary, which begin a year of intensive programming.
In 2031 it will be the turn of Spain and Malta, and Oviedo is working to become the Spanish city to host the title.
The bid is conceived as an ambitious, participatory and transformative project that understands culture as a tool for social cohesion, innovation and international projection.
What does it involve?
It is a unique opportunity to rethink the city through culture and to build a more creative, open and connected future.
The European Capital of Culture is more than a title: it is a collective project that turns culture into a tool for real transformation.
Oviedo 2031
Asturias is a small, peripheral territory that has experienced Europe’s industrial transformations in an especially intense way.
The reconversion of the region’s mining and industrial sectors left deep marks that today translate into challenges such as depopulation, ageing – in a few years it will be one of the most aged regions on the continent – and the departure of young people in search of opportunities.
At the same time, it is a territory with a strong cultural identity, its own language, an exceptional landscape and a mild climate. It also faces the challenge posed by tourism pressure. All these aspects make Asturias and Oviedo a concentrated reflection of many of today’s European challenges.
We are not immune to an international context marked by a severe sociopolitical crisis. We are concerned by the erosion of the democratic values embodied by the European Union and by the current rise of authoritarianism and aggression as dominant forms of interaction between people and countries.
In response, our bid proposes a cultural approach to building a narrative grounded in amabilidá. This is neither an innocent gesture nor a denial of conflict, but rather a conscious way of being in and before the world: an ethical and political project of coexistence that recognises diversity and places listening, dialogue and respect at the heart of a living democracy.
The initial motto of the bid, Puxa Europa – roughly equivalent to “Go, Europe!” – was coined as a pro‑European impulse and a call to action; today it enters into dialogue with amabilidá as the central concept of the project, a way of resisting indifference and building a better future through thought, dialogue and cooperation.
Our working process
Oviedo 2031 seeks to build community through participation, creativity and talent. To this end, a working process has been carried out that includes open meetings in neighbourhoods, gatherings with the cultural sector, roundtables with creative stakeholders and spaces for dialogue across the territory.
The bid has taken shape through meetings with citizens, sectoral roundtables and the work of the technical team, which recently submitted the bidbook to the European jury and is now preparing for its presentation in Madrid, where it will need to demonstrate that Oviedo deserves to move on to the next phase.
Within this process, the Call for Expressions of Interest played a key role. Launched last summer, it made it possible to gather project proposals from individuals, collectives and associations. These contributions strengthened a broad, territorial and shared vision of the project.
The idea behind this entire journey is clear: it is not only about showing what Oviedo already is, but also about demonstrating what it can become when culture is placed at the centre.
Asturias
Asturias, in northern Spain, nestled between the sea and the mountains, is a land with its own identity, where nature, history and culture move in unison. Its green landscapes, industrial heritage, villages, language and a creative, welcoming community make Asturias a unique place in Europe.
A land that cares for its roots and looks to the future by making culture the driver of cohesion, innovation and sustainability.
Asturias isn’t a place you visit, but rather one you find yourself returning to, even if you’ve never been here before.
— Antonio Muñoz Molina, writer.
Team
Rodolfo Sánchez
Director of the bid
Pepe Mompeán
General coordinator
Natalia Álvarez Simó
Artistic director
Zoe López Mediero
Territorial Coordinator
Los Patos
Graphic Design
Ángela Rico
Communication Coordinator
ACERCA Comunicación
Communication Consultancy
Natalia Balseiro
Participation
Antonia Blau
European Dimension
Chus Neira
Editorial Coordinator
Jorge Fernández León
Public cultural policies
Neozink
Online communication and social media
José Castellanos
Production coordinator
External consultants
Franco Bianchini
Cristina Farinha
Paula Mota García
Curators
Jorge Fernández León
Curator of Public Cultural Policies
Vanesa García Rodríguez & Ignacio Ruiz Allen
Curators of Architecture and Urban Planning
Mónica Cofiño
Curator of Contemporary Performing Arts
Marta Fernández Silverio
Curator of the Youth Area
Leticia Sánchez Ruiz
Curatorship of Literature
Aarón Zapico Braña
Curator of Musical Disciplines
Llorián García Flórez
Curator of Contemporary Thought
Dido Carrero Muñiz
Curator of Health and Culture
Semíramis González Fernández
Curator of Visual Arts
Capitality Council
Vanessa Gutiérrez
Regional Minister of Culture, Language Policy, and Sports
Ana Montserrat López
Councillor for Culture, Youth and Museums, Gijón
Yolanda Alonso
Councillor for Culture and Festivals, PSOE Avilés
David Álvarez Menendez
Councillor for Culture, Oviedo
María Pilar García Cuetos
Vice-Rector for University Outreach and Cultural Projection
Carlos López Otín
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oviedo
Teresa Sanjurjo
Director, Princess of Asturias Foundation
José Manuel Ferreira
Vice President, Chamber of Commerce
Jorge Fernández León
Cultural Manager
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ovejero
President, Oviedo Opera Foundation
Pilar Rubiera
President, Oviedo City Musical Foundation
Alfonso Palacio
Deputy Director, Museo Nacional del Prado
David González
Executive Director, SEKUENS Agency
Otilia Requejo
Director of Cultural Heritage, Archdiocese of Oviedo
Xosé Antón Fernández Riaño
President, Academy of the Asturian Language
Joaquín López Alvarez
Director, Museum of the Asturian People and Asturian Photographic Archive
Martín López-Vega
Director of the Executive Office, Instituto Cervantes
Semíramis González
Curator, Cultural Manager, Art Historian
Ricardo Menéndez Salmón
Writer
Lucía García
Former Director of LABoral Art Centre, current Director of IMAL, Brussels
Iván Fernández Lobo
Video Game Expert
Estrella García
Director, Dancer and Choreographer
Antonio Ripoll
Programmer and Theatre Expert
Berta Piñán
Former Regional Minister of Culture and Language Policy of Asturias, Poet
Sergio G. Sánchez
Film Director and Screenwriter
Lisardo Lombardía
Former Director of the Interceltic Festival of Lorient
Reyes Ceñal Rodríguez
Director, Compromiso Asturias XXI