Donostia-San Sebastian will be European Capital of Culture in 2016

Donostia-San Sebastian will be European Capital of Culture in 2016. The city was chosen from among six Spanish cities - including Burgos, Córdoba, Las Palmas, Segovia and Zaragoza - to share the title with Polish city Wroclaw in 5 years time.

The President of the jury, Manfred Gaulhofer, announced the decision in Madrid on Tuesday, alongside Spanish Minister for Culture Ángeles González Sinde.

Under the slogan "peace and co-existence", Donostia-San Sebastian''s candidacy was based on exploring the ways in which culture and education and contribute to building a diverse, pluralistic and peaceful Europe. A total of ten people made up the delegation from the Gipuzkoa capital, including mayor Juan Karlos Izagirre and his predecessor Odon Elorza. On Tuesday, the two men took charge of presenting the city''s candidacy project: "Waves of citizen energy. Culture for co-existence".

The jury
The panel was made up of thirteen cultural experts, six of which were named by the country in question (Spain), more specifically its Minister of Culture. The remaining seven were selected by the European Parliament. The final result was a joint decision agreed by the Euro Chamber and the Council of the European Union.

Capital status
Donostia-San Sebastian will share the title of European Capital of Culture 2016 with the city of Wroclaw, in the southeast of Poland. Poland and Spain were the two countries competing for the title in 2016.

The delegation representing ''Donostia 2016'', the committee behind the candidacy to become European Capital of Culture in 2016, expressed their satisfaction with the work that went into promoting their bid.

After staging an "exciting and innovative" tender, delegation members said they were "happy" with their tender, especially as the jury congratulated them for having "redefined and developed the project to make it more understandable and simple."

After announcing the result of the jury''s decision, the President congratulated San Sebastian on a "superb" and "intelligent" candidacy project.