Integration Day
On Saturday 21st September 2013 in the fairly small city of Huercal Overa, Almeria, Spain the first ever Anglo Spanish Integration Day took place.
With a population of 20,000 People and an expat community of 10% the very forward thinking Mayor Domingo Ferandez Zurano and his town hall put on an amazing event.
For us it was a great opportunity to meet people that live in Huercal Overa having only lived in the area for two months.
We were impressed to see the of support the event achieved, around 1500 people attended and both nationalities.
Entertainment was provided, classic Flamingo dancing of all age groups. The music was varied with a brilliant young Spanish boy singing and playing the guitar, bag pipes, a English choir and a English woman with her guitar. It was well thought out and perfect as back ground for the chatting of the community.
The food was plentiful with both traditional Spanish fair such as Migas (fried flour with meat) and traditional English afternoon tea.
Everyone was very friendly and open to meeting new people, we had some brilliant conversations with both Spanish and English people, I like to think some strong friendships were made.
The Integration day took place in the area used for the Market on Monday and the fiestas, it provided plenty of parking and is easy to find.
The huge tent looked brilliant with the flags of both countries.
The stalls that lined the inside of the tent were a good integration of both cultures with traditional wooden furniture from Spain to the traditional needle work of the UK.
Charities were also well represented with the Red Lions, Dames of Huercal Overa on the British side and a Cancer and Alzheimer’s charities on the Spanish side.
There was an art stall, face painting and of course a bar.
All in all it was well run and a huge success.
The event has caused some controversy with questions being asked of other local town halls namely Mojcar and Albox. These two area have in the region of 50% expat residences and yet why have they not put on an integration event like this ?
Huercal Overa appears to me to be more open to the idea of foreigners living in their community. The people have a clear idea of their roots and the town although has an English shop and English businesses is on the whole very Spanish. The Expats (the ones I have meet)here also seem to embrace the Spanish culture and language. These two factors make integration much easier.
The town hall are so forward thinking that it is bringing English films to the Theatre here in January, February and March 2014, with a view to continue them if it is successful.
For me I wanted to live in Spain and not England in the Sun, Huercal Overa seems to have nailed the integration idea, as Dia de integration Hispano inglesa proves.