Redaccion
Logroño will aspire in 2028 to be the European Capital of Retail, in the Vibrant City category, as announced on Tuesday by the City Promotion Councillor, Miguel Sáinz, and the Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, Florencio Nicolás. To achieve this, a «city candidacy» will be prepared, which is expected to be submitted for the award at the end of 2027.
As explained by the councilor, the European Parliament presented on July 3 the bases and call for the different categories of the European Capital of Proximity Commerce, «now that the bases have been established and the categories have been closed, we can specify that Logroño will aspire to the recognition of Vibrant City for cities with populations between 50,000 and 250,000 inhabitants».
«During this term,» he added, «we have firmly supported our local commerce, understanding that beyond achieving this recognition, what is important is the process and the path we have started in this aspiration.»
In this sense, the councilor highlighted the joint and collaborative work being carried out with the Chamber of Commerce of La Rioja, with the different commercial associations, and with the businesses in the city to prepare the candidacy for the end of 2027.
According to Miguel Sainz, «we face this candidacy as a challenge, an opportunity for improvement and growth of Logroño’s commerce for the present and the future.»
He emphasized, «the political and social unity to carry out this project, for which we have the support of merchants, Business Federation, Chamber of Commerce, University of La Rioja, neighborhood associations, professional associations of Economists and Commercial Agents, as well as the cultural sector of Logroño.»
COMMERCIAL REFERENCE OF NORTHERN SPAIN AND EUROPE
«All of them,» he insisted, «support us in this moment of catharsis, renewal, and reinvention of local commerce, where we will bring out character to, with humility, unity, and without complexes, assert what we were, are, and will be: a commercial reference in northern Spain and even at a European level.»
Thus, the councilor expressed «excitement for the roadmap on which we will work in the next two years, a lot of work has been done, many studies and analyses have been carried out, now is the time to take action to aspire to achieve this recognition.»
In his opinion, «it is not just a commerce project, it is a city project.» «We are promoting a new model of proximity commerce in the city that we want to share and export to other medium-sized cities. A model based on participation and with commerce as a dynamizing element of the city’s social life,» Sáinz pointed out.
He also highlighted urban planning actions and projects that are currently being developed or planned in the city, which will have a positive impact on our local commerce, such as the intervention in Cien Tiendas, the renovation of San Antón, or the connections of La Glorieta.
According to Miguel Sainz, «the sustainable mobility model, welcoming and based on coexistence that we are implementing will have a positive impact on the commercial activity of the city.»
The councilor emphasized that collaborative public-private models will continue to be worked on between the City Council, Chamber of Commerce, and commercial associations to «develop initiatives that allow us to configure an attractive candidacy to achieve recognition and thus continue to boost morale in our local commerce.»
He recalled that one of the commitments of the local government is to carry out initiatives and actions of cultural dynamization in the streets that have a direct impact on the promotion of commerce. «Over these two years, we have promoted the ‘CUCO’ initiative, Commerce Culture, in different commercial areas of the city with great success and we will continue working along this same line,» he pointed out.
The councilor also highlighted different initiatives that are being developed such as the sustainable distribution hub on Comandancia street, the commercial excellence awards granted by the Commerce Chair of the UR, or the pilot project for the digitization of 15 city businesses next year.
«Initiatives,» he stressed, «framed within the criteria of sustainability, support for entrepreneurship and community participation, digitization, and attractiveness and vitality of the city that are valued for European recognition.»
WORKING GROUP IN SEPTEMBER.
Likewise, he explained that «starting in September, a working group will be created based on the City Commerce Council and which will also include other city representatives to design a roadmap to prepare Logroño’s candidacy for European recognition.»
The conclusions of this work «will be included in the external technical assistance that will be contracted to start the candidacy process.»
As stated in the call bases, winning cities will receive a comprehensive package of non-financial support in aspects such as recognition and prestige at the European level; promotional support throughout the year of the title; exclusive networking events with other leading cities; participation in the small retailer exchange program; attendance at workshops and webinars; media coverage; and improvement of the city’s brand and impact on tourism.
On his part, Florencio Nicolás has shown full support to «consolidate this participatory project among all, which will allow us to establish a working group to ensure that commerce truly becomes a city dynamizing project.»
In his opinion, «proximity commerce is key, we are committed to this project to make a solid and representative candidacy of the profound change of local commerce in Logroño.»
