The Plenary Hall of the La Laguna City Council hosted on Monday, December 2nd, the ceremony for the awarding of the city's medal to María Isabel Navarro Segura, Professor of Art History at the University of La Laguna, a distinction with which the municipality wishes to honor her commitment to the defense, protection and dissemination of the heritage values of the only historic city in the Canary Islands that has been declared a World Heritage Site.
The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, presented this distinction at an event attended by the rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco García, and the councilor for Cultural Heritage of the town, Adolfo Cordobés, as well as representatives of the municipal corporation, the academic institution, and the citizens of La Laguna.
The mayor thanked Navarro for his “steadfastness and leadership,” which have been fundamental in enabling La Laguna to celebrate the 25th anniversary of such an important milestone. This milestone has shaped the municipality's development and established a commitment to protecting and safeguarding its heritage for future generations. “We hope to continue counting on his collaboration and expertise to face the new challenges that, through the process of reflection and analysis we have begun based on the experience of this first quarter-century, we will encounter in the coming years.”.
Gutiérrez also explained that the key was made for the occasion by the local workshop Krijer Hermanos Orfebres, “a unique silver work, which combines a tribute to the baroque tradition of silversmithing in the La Laguna style with a reinterpretation of the compass rose, which Navarro recognized in the urban layout of La Laguna and masterfully demonstrated in his research.”.
Navarro developed his intervention through the presentation entitled "The historic city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna: rethinking its future", in which he reviewed the history of all the actions carried out in defense of the heritage of La Laguna, even recalling the mobilizations of the students and teachers of the University in the 1970s.
In this conference, which was broadcast live and is available on the institutional YouTube channel, he delved into the exceptional universal value of the historic city and the need to take further steps to ensure its safeguarding.
This recognition of Maisa Navarro adds to the one that will be given to her next Wednesday at the institutional ceremony with which the town wants to show its gratitude to all the people who were essential to achieving this important designation by UNESCO.
(Note and photo provided by the municipal corporation).
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