This designation, announced by the local government team, comes in a particularly significant year, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Poble magazine, which Clemente has directed and edited since its inception. Authorities have highlighted his extensive career as a key figure in disseminating local reality and, especially, in promoting and giving visibility to the patron saint festivals, to which he has always provided prominent coverage.
Juanjo Clemente Cabedo, director and editor of Poble magazine since 1995, boasts extensive experience in journalism. He has worked as a writer for media outlets such as Castellón Diario and El Mundo Castellón al Día, and is a member of the Federación de Asociaciones de Periodistas de España (FAPE), as well as the board of directors of the Asociación de la Prensa Comarcal Valenciana. Throughout his career, he has completed numerous specialized training courses, including the Professional Journalism Seminar at the University of Navarra, and various programs in strategic marketing, public relations, business and institutional communication, and protocol.
His professional trajectory is characterized by valuing local identity, traditions, and the people of Vila-real through journalism. Clemente has undertaken extensive work documenting the contemporary history of the city and has become a catalyst for collective memory through various cultural and editorial projects. These include the journalistic platform Poble, his work as editor and screenwriter for documentary series such as Imatges per a una història, Les nostres penyes. 25 anys de festes populars, or 50 anys de reines i dames, in addition to the annual organization of the Poble Awards, which this year celebrate their 26th edition.
Furthermore, he has developed a prolific activity as an author, publishing several books focused on the history and reality of Vila-real, such as Vila-real, un poble una història 1995-2005, Villarreal C.F. 10 años en la élite 1998-2008, Imatges d'una història 1923-2023, 80 anys de futbol a Vila-real, Personatges il·lustrats, Premis Poble 2001-2025, Vila-real ahir&avui, or Campeón de Europa League 2021-2022, among others, as well as participating as co-author in numerous publications.
His involvement with the city's cultural and associative world is also highly notable, with active participation in entities such as the Cofradía de la Mare de Déu dels Dolors and the Congregación de Luises, as well as various cultural initiatives. He also has extensive experience as a maintainer and town crier in different municipalities, having participated in similar events in Oropesa, Chilches, La Vilavella, Atzeneta, Nules, Les Alqueries, or Suera. In Vila-real, he has been the town crier for Holy Week on two occasions and for the Three Kings' proclamation, as well as the maintainer of the Literary Contest of the Daughters of María del Rosario, among other literary recognitions and awards.
With this designation, the Vila-real City Council recognizes Juanjo Clemente's career, commitment, and contribution to the dissemination of local identity and culture, in an act that will mark the beginning of the festive cycle and reinforce the commitment to the municipality's traditions and festive spirit. The individuals responsible for reading the proclamation, which will be a text by the Vila-real-born professor and historian Jacinto Heredia, will be two cousins of the 2026 queen who were formerly city ladies: Sofia Padullés Beltrán (lady in 2022) and Ana Belén Claramonte Beltrán (lady in 2012).
