Thursday afternoon marked a significant event in Gandia's cultural calendar. The Teatre Serrano was the venue for the visit of Luis García Montero, poet, professor, and director of the Cervantes Institute. His presence was the highlight of the eighth edition of the 'Gandia Pensa' cycle, an event that, in just over a year, has achieved remarkable resonance in the national intellectual landscape.
Under the title The Responsibility with the Word, García Montero engaged in a conversation with the curator of the event, Àngels Gregori. The dialogue focused on the need to restore democratic quality and defend critical thinking as the last refuge against the polarization that stifles public debate.
“"Freedom cannot be understood without absolute respect for diversity and coexistence, a principle that directly clashes with authoritarian discourses seeking to replace citizen equality with a gray and uniform standardization."
During the meeting, the writer lucidly analyzed the threats facing open societies, warning how traditional neoliberalism is evolving towards unprecedented forms of dictatorship driven by economic elites. Against this inertia, García Montero championed culture as a fundamental space of consciousness to reflect on the true meaning of concepts that today seem to be emptied of content.
The day's discussion also touched upon geopolitics and the strategic role of language. García Montero firmly defended the European project as a space for dialogue born from the ashes of last century's conflicts, warning against the rise of the far-right. He positioned Spain as a fundamental bridge with Latin America, emphasizing the need to strengthen the Spanish-speaking community through horizontal cooperation, aiming to make Spanish a leading language not only for great literature but also for science and technology.
From the local sphere, the mayor of Gandia, José Manuel Prieto, highlighted the significance of this event for a city that aspires to project itself internationally as a benchmark for creation and knowledge. Prieto noted that García Montero's presence reinforces the foundational objective of 'Gandia Pensa': to offer citizens critical tools to face contemporary challenges. The mayor linked this impulse to the city's historical legacy, an undisputed reference of the Valencian Golden Age, and stressed the importance of the collaboration with the Cervantes Institute to elevate Gandia to the level of the world's great cultural capitals.
Before his intervention, Luis García Montero fulfilled institutional protocol at the Gandia City Council. He was received by the mayor and councilors Balbina Sendra and Jesús Naveiro, and signed the city's Book of Honor, thus concluding a day where the word once again served as the backbone of coexistence and progress.
With this meeting, 'Gandia Pensa' consolidates its position after a year of trajectory as an essential forum, demonstrating that thought is, now more than ever, a primary necessity.
