03/06/2020 Discover Sefarad is a Spanish Jewish Network project and the town halls that make it up, which aims to invite people to discover this Jewish past of cities and territories. 500 years that were tried to erase, but of those that conserve traces of tangible heritage.
Within the Discover Sefarad project, a representation of journalists and specialized photographers of some of the most representative journals, digital portals and travel supplements on the national scene visited Monforte and Ribeira Sacra this week. The objective, that the reader feels inspired to start the trip to this destination.
The media that were able to participate in the initiative “fit very well with the public that can connect with our product. A national audience that leaves the big city to spend a few days and returns home with the feeling of having learned something more. Beyond disconnecting, eating well and having a good time, he has found something he did not know about his own country, which I think is important, ”said Marta Puig Quixal, Manager of the Spanish Jewish Network. "In Monforte it is interesting to see how the Jews have lived together and were part of the identity of the city, that there were jewish families that boosted and promoted the city as it is today."
From the Spanish Jewish Network, it is expected that the impact of this initiative, which encompasses the three municipalities that belong to the Spanish Jewish Network in Galicia, Monforte, Ribadavia and Tui, can be verified for several months, with weekly publications in important national medias. “Publications of gastronomy, heritage, history,… we gave a seed of interest or development so that each one approaches it as they wish. So they can provide content with something that is fashionable, which is the country's Jewish culture. All journalists said they wanted to go back to each of the cities.”,says the network manager.
Monforte as the capital of Ribeira Sacra complements the resources of its Jewish past. It offers a destination where the wealth and proposals of the territory are connected with the influence of the Jewish world, which also had an impact on the wine of Galicia. As they point out from the Spanish Jewish Network, the Jews helped with techniques and showed the vision of the exploitation of the wine and its export.
Connecting citizens with their own trace
The Spanish Jewish Network has among its members 6 World Heritage cities; If Ribeira Sacra obtains this recognition, the Network would already have 7 World Heritage Sites. The project of the Spanish Jewish Network exists because the cities allocate part of the budget for this purpose.
Monforte de Lemos and the other 21 cities that are part of the Spanish Jewish Network allocate part of their budgets to maintain this project, which began looking to connect with citizens, so that people were aware that they had a Jewish past and then, prepare to spread and publicize that heritage. The Spanish Jewish Network has the unanimity of those involved in order to invest in a project that values the heritage of your city.