The mayor of Cieza, Tomás Rubio, and councilor María Turpín met this week at CAMUSESA with the board of directors and presidents of the 18 brotherhoods that make up the Junta de Hermandades Pasionarias (Passion Brotherhoods Board) to explain firsthand the objectives of the newly created Holy Week Council.
The representatives, in turn, had the opportunity to raise a series of concerns with municipal officials, seeking to improve the processions and activities spread throughout the twelve months of the year.
Both the councilor and the head of the new municipal area clarified that their mission in this area will be to provide support and collaboration, in every way, to the brotherhoods. This assistance will extend throughout the year.
Rubio and Turpín specified that the brotherhoods, aside from the Holy Week processions, "which are already one of Cieza's mainstays of tourism and a vital driving force for tourism development, carry out diverse activities throughout the entire annual calendar. These activities, which are initially carried out to generate profits to help financially support the brotherhoods, also entail a collateral gain, since these sporting, cultural, recreational, musical, or social activities encourage citizens to participate in them, encouraging consumption, with the resulting positive impact on the local economy."
"For this reason," the mayor insisted, "it is crucial to make all the organizational procedures for these events as easy as possible, and this will be the exclusive responsibility of the new council."
New Holy Week Department in Cieza
Turpín added that, "until now, when brotherhoods had to prepare an activity, they had to, in most cases, divide the management between several city councils. With the new Holy Week delegation, all brotherhoods, throughout the year, regardless of the event's theme, will be able to channel all management for their organization solely and exclusively through the city council we are launching, modeled after others already operating in various Spanish cities with internationally important Holy Weeks."
Finally, they announced that the Holy Week Department will have a budget for each fiscal year, which will include the allocations distributed among the brotherhoods for their annual programming.
Finally, this municipal department will prepare a 12-month program featuring all the brotherhoods' proposals.
Source: Cieza City Council.
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