Huelva hosts 160 young people from Spain and Portugal to commemorate 40 years in the EU

Pupils and teachers from Portuguese and Spanish European Parliament Ambassador Schools will meet from 1 to 3 June in Punta Umbría (Huelva) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the entry of both countries into the European Union and to build the future together.

 

 

 

Nearly 200 participants, including pupils and teachers from six schools in the European Parliament’s Ambassador Schools programme in Portugal and Spain, as well as volunteers from the todosjuntos.eu community, will meet in Punta Umbría (Huelva) from 1 to 3 June to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the two countries’ entry into the European Union. There, they will work in groups on proposals to build the future of Portugal and Spain in the EU for the coming decades. The students of the Ambassador Schools will work on proposals on the topics that interest them most, such as mental health, social networks, artificial intelligence and housing.

Under the slogan “You Portugal, me Spain, together Europe ” the young people will meet in the month that marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the treaty of accession to the then European Economic Community (EEC) on 12 June 1985.

The talks and activities will include the participation of MEP Marcos Ros (S&D, Spain) by video and former Portuguese MEP Carlos Coelho (EPP).

One of the highlights of the meeting will be the zip line linking Sanlúcar del Guadiana in Spain with Alcoutim in Portugal, the only cross-border zip line in the world. Crossing the Guadiana River, Spanish and Portuguese young people will symbolise the union of Spain and Portugal by crossing the river that unites them. At the same time, others will kayak the Guadiana, the border between Spain and Portugal, showing the union of the two Iberian states within Europe.

Participating in the Punta Umbría meeting will be IES El Carmen (Murcia), Colegio Humanitas Bilingual School Torrejón (Torrejón de Ardoz) and Colegio Miralmonte (Cartagena) from Spain and theAgrupamento de Escolas de Monserrate (Viana do Castelo), Centro de Educação Integral (São João da Madeira) and Escola Básica e Secundária Quinta das Flores (Coimbra) from Portugal.

The conference begins on Sunday 1 June with a welcome and a game about the European Union. On Monday 2 June the main activities will take place at the Teatro del Mar in Punta Umbria, with a meeting with the former Portuguese MEP Carlos Coelho, EPP, and a video of the Spanish MEP Marcos Ros, S&D, as well as a debate on disinformation with the professor of journalism at the University of Navarra, Ramón Salaverría .

The programme closes on Tuesday 3 June with the conclusions of the working groups formed by the students of the Ambassador Schools and the zip-line and kayak activities in Sanlúcar del Guadiana and Alcoutim.

 

More information: European Parliament.