Casa América and the Fundación Consejo España-EE.UU. are organizing tomorrow Thursday at 6:30 PM the conference San Juan de Puerto Rico: five centuries of history and heritage. Free entry until full capacity.
The event will be led by Miguel A. Romero Lugo, mayor of San Juan (Puerto Rico), and as part of the cycle History and Ibero-American Heritage Cities.
This meeting proposes a journey through the historical evolution of one of the most emblematic cities of the Hispanic Caribbean. Through an analysis of its origins, urban development, and its strategic role in the Atlantic framework of the Spanish monarchy, the talk will propose an approach to the main milestones that have marked the historical and cultural identity of San Juan over more than five centuries, since its foundation in 1521.
In addition, the conference will address the heritage richness of the city as a result of multiple historical, social, and cultural processes that have shaped its physiognomy and collective memory. From the fortifications and colonial urbanism to contemporary dynamics of conservation and revitalization of the historic center, the focus will be on the challenges and opportunities that preserving this heritage legacy entails in the Ibero-American context.
Through different perspectives, the intervention will allow for reflection on the relationship between history, citizenship, and heritage, as well as on the value of historic cities as meeting spaces between past and present. In dialogue with other Ibero-American urban experiences, the conference will offer a broad view of the historical construction of San Juan de Puerto Rico and the role it plays today as a cultural and historical reference in the Atlantic and Latin American sphere.
After some welcoming words from León de la Torre, general director of Casa de América, and Fernando Prieto, secretary general of the Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU., the conference will follow, which will be moderated by Nuria López, international journalist of El Mundo.