The Provincial Council of Almeria has celebrated International Women’s Day by highlighting Spanish women’s sport as an example of overcoming real equality between men and women. The Salón Noble of the Círculo Mercantil hosted the conference ‘Women and Sport’ with the participation of three internationally renowned professionals, such as the journalist Paloma del Río, the ex-gymnast, actress and writer Almudena Cid and the Atlético de Madrid footballer Virginia Torrecilla. The meeting, organised jointly with La Voz de Almería and Cadena SER, was also attended by the President of the Provincial Council, Javier A. The President of the Provincial Council thanked the three guests for their presence in Almería because “with this activity we want to show that for the Provincial Council of Almería, for the government team that I lead, our most important premise is that all people, regardless of the colour of our skin, creed, place of residence or sex, have access to the same opportunities”. García added that “equality, at all levels, forms a cross-cutting part of the action and political agenda of the Provincial Institution, which we apply with proposals from all areas.
Finally, the President reminded that “the Provincial Council of Almeria will always be by your side, the 81 Associations of the Provincial Council of Women, all entities, groups, or individuals who, like the Provincial Council, work for equality 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Let us continue to work together so that no woman ever has to give up anything simply because she is a woman. Men have been doing sport since ancient Greece, that is, for more than 21 centuries, and women have been doing it for 150 years. Since Barcelona 92 there has been a lot of progress but we have to make people see that when they press the button on the TV, it is costing women a lot to offer that sporting spectacle”.
I come from a very demanding sport and when it is over I have managed to recycle myself. We have to learn from all the experiences and give visibility to women in sport”. The deputy director of La Voz de Almería explained that “it is essential to make the role of women in society visible. It is essential to make visible the positive examples of those women who inspire and guide us because they lay the foundations for new vocations and widen the path for other women to follow”.
In the same vein, the director of La Voz de Almería, Pedro Manuel de la Cruz, stressed that this day responds to “the determined will of the Diputación de Almería and Cadena SER to take permanent steps in the search for equality and the emphasis on the role of women in any facet of life as today with such important figures in sport who are with us”. Almudena Cid is one of the most outstanding gymnasts in the history of this sport in Spain.
Provincial Women’s Council
Also in the Noble Hall of the Círculo Mercantil and prior to the breakfast-colloquium, the Governing Board and Plenary of the Provincial Council of Women was held, where the report for 2021 was approved, the joint campaign of the eight Andalusian councils for the 8th March was presented and the manifesto for the International Women’s Day was read.
The Provincial Women’s Council was created in 1997 to strengthen the network of women’s associations in Almeria. It is currently made up of 81 associations in the province, whose main objectives include strengthening the effectiveness of the principle of equality between women and men, promoting institutional collaboration with civil society, making the role of women in the province more visible, promoting women in rural areas and eradicating violence against women.
