Looking to the future, Lures Mayor Ricardo Leao (PS) wants to take advantage of World Youth Day (WYD) to promote and bring major music events to the county.
A few days before the start of the World Youth Day, which will take place from August 1 to 6, works are being completed in the Tejo Trancao Park, which covers the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures and will serve as the stage for the vigil and the final mass of the event in the presence of Pope Francis.
It is in this scenario that in an interview with the Lusa agency, the mayor of Lures reveals the expectations of the municipality regarding this event, although he prefers to focus on the post of the WYD.
“This is of great importance not only because of the event itself, which is the largest ever held in our country, but also because of the re-qualification of an area of about 70 hectares.
Deciding to turn his eyes to the future, Ricardo Leão listed the set of equipment he wants to install in the Loures part of the Tejo Trancao park after WYD, stressing that the municipality will “fight for the biggest events” to take place in the municipality.
“We’re not going to be limited to just sports equipment. There will be restoration and entertainment construction. We’ll leave here a set of hectares, all with the infrastructure to host the Nos Alive of this life, Super Bock Super Rock, who want to take advantage of this space. Loures will also compete here to start these events,” he said.
As for the more immediate aspects and preparations for the WYD, the mayor of Loures noted that everything is almost ready for the event.
“We cannot say that everything is perfect. There is this or that detail, but everything related to what was our memorandum of understanding and our commitment to hold World Youth Day, I would say that it is 98% ready. Everything is ready and everything will be in conditions so that we can receive hundreds of thousands of pilgrims,” he said.
Asked about his expectations regarding the economic impact of WYD on Loures, Ricardo Leão only said that he believes that all merchants can benefit from the presence of pilgrims in the county.
“On Tuesday, we met with all merchants and all representatives of economic activity to explain to them the routes of the pilgrims this week, so that local trade can also take advantage of the presence of these pilgrims.
Continuing to talk about the event’s impact on commerce and catering, the mayor acknowledged that few restaurants adhered to food “vouchers” for pilgrims, devaluing low adherence, however.
“Commitment was weak, it’s true. There were about 30 restaurants that stuck to these vouchers. I think it’s preferable for the establishment to be open and people to go and consume.
According to the mayor of Loures, between 15,000 and 21,000 pilgrims will spend the night in the municipality, in 44 schools provided for this purpose, in sports pavilions and in the homes of 300 host families.
Ricardo Leão also said that several events dedicated to pilgrims will take place during WYD in the Municipality of Loures, with a focus on two events at the Sacavema Ceramic Museum and at Parque da Cidad de Loures.
“We are going to hold a number of events with pilgrims. We’re going to have two major events, one in the east side of the county and one in the north.
Lisbon has been chosen by Pope Francis to host the next WYD, considered the largest event of the Catholic Church, which will take place from 1 to 6 August and is expected to attract around 1.5 million people.
Pope Francis was the first to register for JMJLisboa2023 on October 23, 2022 at the Vatican after the Angelus celebration. This gesture marked the opening of registration for the World Youth Meeting with the Pope.
WYD was born at the initiative of Pope John Paul II after the success of the meeting organized in 1985 in Rome as part of the International Year of Youth.
The first edition took place in 1986 in Rome, having already passed through Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sydney (2008), Madrid (20 11), Rio de Janeiro (20). 13), Krakow (20 16) and Panama (2019).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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