Prominent Indian personalities to promote spain


A piano along with other musical instruments placed in his living room are evidence that he is fond of music. He loves to listen to classical music, enjoys literature and, at the same time, is a supporter of wildlife and environmental activities. Mr. Ion de la Riva, the Ambassador of Spain in India, takes time off his busy schedule to enjoy swimming, hiking and participating in seminars and lectures pertaining to human rights. In an exclusive talk to THE BLUE MOON Editor, Amit Mittal, he explained his plans to promote tourism between the two countries.

“When we talk about Spain and what it offers to tourists, only a few might lend an ear, but when prominent Indians, known personalities from different field will talk about Spain, then their followers and fan clubs will listen to them intently. This is why I am launching a very special campaign which will feature personalities like Sharmila Tagore, Shekhar Kapoor, Chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand or the Formula One Indian rider Karun Chandhok start talking about interesting places in Spain, a large audience in India will listen and follow.”

This I understand is the idea that you have launched. Indeed, it will work. But there is not much heard about Spain’s tourism in India so far.

“We are taking the issue in all seriousness. Six months ago our Minister of State was here to launch a Tourism Office in Mumbai. Now we have a fully functional Spanish Tourism Office operating from Mumbai. The Indian Minister Mr. Shashi Tharoor had expressed the hope of having a ‘twin sister city’ agreement between Thiruvananthapuram and Barcelona. We have the flamenco. Regions in Spain which are specific for different kinds of travelers. Like Andalucia, Barcelona and Madrid for the discerning Indian traveler. Young people love to go for Ibizia night life and the middle aged prefer Marbella and Granada which are great heritage places. India and Spain share a lot of heritage.”

Of the two places that I have heard of in Spain are Madrid and Barcelona. What is so special about the two?

Barcelona is known for the Olympics and football matches. Madrid is the Capital and has great museums, restaurants and night life. The President of the Regional Madrid government, Esperanaza Aguirre was in Mumbai at the time of bomb blasts there. She was rescued from the basement of one of the attacked hotels. We have a friendship agreement between Delhi and Barcelona and we are thinking of same between Mumbai and Madrid. The Chief Minister of Delhi has agreed to make a square in Delhi on the Barcelona model. The MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor has also taken Barcelona seriously. He thinks cruises in Barcelona could be started in Trivandrum on the same model.

Has there been growth in the number of Spanish tourists coming to India?

More and more Spaniards are coming to India. The Incredible India campaign has been successful in attracting more tourists. The heritage destinations in India also attract many tourists. Backpackers are very enthusiastic about coming to India. The only category which faces problems at times are the adventure tourists. There are tourists who come for meditation. They never face problems in India. Tourists from Spain who choose luxury accommodation also do not have any problems. The VIPs who travel to India, their opinion is very important.

Often terrorists attacks have brought a wave of advisories against India from Europe. What do you say?

Those attacks have not affected the reputation of India. The number of tourists coming from Spain to India has gone up from 42000 in 2004 to 62000 in 2008. The Spanish people are tough lot. Such incidents can take place anywhere in the world. It does not deter us from traveling to India. It is also possible that India might give visa-on-arrival after summer this year to Spanish tourists.

Is any of the Indian hotel chains planning to launch its project in Spain ?

Taj hotels may start off some new venture as Tata has good stake in many businesses in Spain.

Has the number of Indians traveling to Spain also gone up?

Yes the number of Indians has also risen. In 2009 first quarter there were just 900 travellers from India. In the first quarter of the current year, the number went up to 1200.

I have heard of some controversy, regarding the deaths of “matadors’ .

Yes there are controversies surrounding the bull fights. Bullfighting is a heritage art in Spain. You will shortly hear of a Bollywood film being shot in Spain. It is titled ‘Running with the Bulls.’ This will be good publicity for Spain.

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