King Felipe traveled to the Canary Islands to take part in a series of events and institutional meetings, most of them connected with the COTEC forum.
On Thursday, 19th September, King Felipe welcomed Italian President Sergio Mattarella to Gran Canaria Island, in the city of Las Palmas, for a series of activities that precede the main event, which will take place on Friday.
The two Heads of State visited the historic city centre, stopping at most of its main sites: Casa de Colón and Casa del Gobernador, St. Anna’s Cathedral, and Ermita de San Antonio Abad.
Given the short distances, the pair opted to walk between monuments, and the local population was out in force to greet them, turning the stroll into an impromptu walkabout, during which the Spanish king and the Italian president stopped to chat with locals and shake as many hands as possible.
(Casa de S.M. el Rey)
This cultural tour was the first of a series of events that Spain organised in connection with the COTEC forum; King Felipe and Presidents Mattarella and Rebelo de Sousa (who will join the pair on Friday) will meet a group of students taking part in training sessions at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology, before sitting for the forum proper.
The COTEC forum was created in 1990, and was originally a strictly Spanish entity, dedicated to the promotion of innovation in Spanish businesses. Then, in 2001, COTEC Italy was created, and, in 2003, Portugal joined, “giving an international character to the push towards innovation promoted by COTEC”, according to their website.
The COTEC Fourm is celebrating this year its 17th edition, and is hosted on rotation in Spain, Portugal and Italy: the 2023 edition was hosted in Palermo, President Mattarella’s native town, while it has not yet been made public which portuguese city will host the 2025 edition.
King Felipe is Honorary President of the COTEC, with the Heads of State in both Italy and Portugal serving as Honorary Presidents of the respective countries’s branches of the Foundation.
Each year, the forum selects a specific topic related to innovation in the business sector, with this year’s theme being “technology sovereignty”.
