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ARCHIVED - Lorca becomes officially twinned with the French town of Vias
Hundreds of Lorca residents and their ancestors moved to the south of France and still keep their Spanish heritage alive there
The town of Lorca in southern Murcia has formalised its twinning with the French town of Vias this week, meaning the Murcia locality is now twinned with eight different towns – four of which are in France.
The Mayor of Lorca, Diego José Mateos, presided over the institutional act, the formalities of which began last summer, and said, “This twinning was unanimously approved by the Plenary of the City Council and this morning we make it effective with the signing of this agreement which is an important day for the municipality of Lorca and Vias, as we unite our people.”
“With this official act, we permanently strengthen the ties of union and fraternity between the two towns, with the main objective of making the Lorca community living in Vias feel a little closer to their native Lorca.”
One of the main links between the two towns already is that many Lorca people left for the south of France decades ago, specifically to Vias, to seek a better future. Many of them returned as the situation improved in Spain, but many others stayed to make their lives there.Lorca’s Mayor insisted that the Lorca citizens who emigrated are still “residents of the San José neighbourhood and of districts such as Aguaderas, Cazalla, La Paca, Marchena or La Pulgara – in short, residents who continue to carry Lorca in their memories and in their hearts as their origins and pass it on to their children and grandchildren.”
He continued: “Last summer, we were fortunate enough to visit the French town for a weekend, which helped us to meet a large group of Lorca people and their descendants, about 500 people, residing in this town of 6,000 inhabitants located in southern France, which in summer exceeds 60,000, and is located very close to other municipalities already twinned with Lorca such as Adissan or Mauguio.”
For his part, the Mayor of Vias, Jordan Dartier, has shown his “satisfaction for the welcome received from the city of Lorca for this twinning, which we celebrate, and which is the beginning of a great friendship between our two cities that have this opportunity to celebrate that we have a common past, with an interconnected history forged by years of exchanges between our peoples, which have forged our cultural and historical heritage, as well as allowing us to know our cultures and work together for a more prosperous and harmonious future.”
“The emotional ties between Vias and Lorca have never been lost,” he said, “and the descendants of these first Lorquinos continue to maintain this strong Lorca connection, starting with the surnames of some of people from Vias, such as Sánchez or Ruiz, as a sign that Vias has retained a certain Spanish essence.”
Lorca is already twinned with the French towns of Saint Fons, Mauguio, and Adissan, now joined by Vias; Molins de Rey (Barcelona), Vera and Huércal Overa (Almería), and Wilaya del Aaiiun (Western Sahara).
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Images: Ayuntamiento de Lorca
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