Twinning ceremony in Cantabria

The Government of Cantabria and the Provincial Council of Palencia will celebrate an act of the twinning between both territories today, with common heritage, historical and cultural elements, including the Camino Lebaniego Castellano.

The meeting, which will be held at the Santo Toribio Monastery coinciding with the celebration of the Lebaniego Jubilee Year, aims to strengthen ties and analyse lines of collaboration that contribute to the rapprochement of the two territories, the regional Executive has indicated in a press release.

The event will be attended by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Government of Cantabria, Eva Guillermina Fernández, and the president of the Palencia Provincial Council, Ángeles Armisén, accompanied by the Cantabrian general directors of Culture and Historical Heritage, Juan Antonio González Fuentes, and of Tourism and Hospitality, Gustavo Cubero, and the territorial delegate of the Junta de Castilla y León in Palencia, José Antonio Rubio, as well as the director of the Camino Lebaniego Foundation, Pilar Gómez Bahamonde.

Likewise, the 42 mayors of the town councils and neighbourhood councils along which the Castilian pilgrimage route passes, which begins in Palencia and runs through several regions of the province from south to north before entering Cantabria, and the main Camino Lebaniego, have been invited.

The events will begin at 11:00 a.m. with the meeting of both delegations on the esplanade of the temple and the symbolic exchange of flags, and will feature folkloric performances exponents of the Cantabrian and Palencia cultures and traditions.

These will be carried out by the San Pablo Dance Group representing Cantabria and the Jorge Manrique Dance Group representing Palencia.

Subsequently, the two delegations will pass through the Puerta del Perdón and attend the pilgrim mass that is celebrated every day, at 12:00 p.m., in the monastery on the occasion of the Lebaniego Jubilee Year.

The meeting also includes a work meeting that will take place at the Lebaniegos Studies Centre in Potes, at 1:00 p.m., in which proposals and collaboration projects between both territories will be exchanged.

The day will be completed with a tourist-cultural visit to the capital of Liébana and a meal with the Pilgrim’s Menu and its main dish – the cocido lebaniego – as the protagonist.

With this meeting, Cantabria and Palencia seek to open avenues of rapprochement that allow the development of projects and joint work for the benefit of both territories.

Likewise, the twinning highlights a common historical and cultural heritage such as its Romanesque architecture and gives visibility to the Camino Lebaniego Castellano, with five centuries of history.

This pilgrimage itinerary that structures Palencia and unites it with Cantabria represents one of the access routes to the Monastery of Santo Toribio for walkers and pilgrims from Castilla y León.

The Camino Castellano stands as a cultural and heritage resource of historical significance and as a dynamic element of the towns and regions through which it passes thanks to its tourist potential and its ability to attract pilgrims and tourists motivated by the natural environments, cultural heritage that are found in their path or moved by faith, in other cases, until they reach the Monastery of Santo Toribio, where the largest relic of the Lignum Crucis that exists in the world is preserved.

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