A spontaneous man happens to exclaim "pretty!!!" when a woman passes by and the woman responds, more or less: "Hey man, go raise your mother's self-esteem!

These days, preparing this article, I thought that the compliment could summarize the feeling I got from the palpable climate of skepticism when in January the group of work in charge of preparing the project candidacy for the nomination of Pamplona as Capital of Culture started the weekly meetings.

In the press, listening to politicians or talking about the candidacy, the usual comments were: Pamplona?, Culture?, against Cordoba, San Sebastian? ...nothing to do, the last ones on the Internet, lack of citizen illusion..., waste of time and money? Go to raise the self-esteem to another city....

 However, the work of group and the conviction of those responsible for project, gradually turned the initial impression into enthusiasm. The method, based on the participation of cultural agents in sectorial meetings where opinions and criticisms could be exchanged and internal discussions helped us to elaborate a solid project adapted to the austerity of the moment. It has been very gratifying to see that there are many people in Pamplona willing to offer their time (without economic compensation) for the culture of their city. The participants have contributed ideas -thanks to all of them-, which, apart from the success of the candidacy, are collected, and the method itself becomes result.

It is a suggestive project . We offer ourselves as a place of meeting in which the party as an attitude and the dialogue between different people and languages serve to improve the knowledge and encourage mutual respect among its inhabitants.
The activities take place in the public space of Pamplona, which is the essence of a great European city. This statement may come as a shock, but we know that greatness has nothing to do with size.

The origin of Pamplona is explained on a map of Europe, as an enclave of passage to the south of the continental scale accident of the Pyrenees. It is European because its foundation is due to Rome, which meets with the primitive Basque settlers on a promontory and with practical sense merges in a peaceful coexistence. Its medieval configuration is an example of a very European subject : that of the multiplied cities, including Reims, Bordeaux and London. The ideal city theories of the Renaissance and continental military engineering are present in the layout of the Citadel, which will be the work that will mark the urban form of modern times in Pamplona. The layout of the walls, which the Enlightenment in other European cities made a symbol of an ancient world and razed to the ground, is maintained in our city, where modest expansions have been incorporated into the existing fabric and have shaped an admirable contemporary city.

An example city for Europe, in which its public space, the system of open spaces, its streets, squares, avenues and parks stand out. And it stands out not only for the solidity of its form and layout, but also for being the stage for the life of the inhabitants of Pamplona. The European tradition of public space, which begins in the agora, the forum, the market, the royal place , and the place mayor, survives strongly among us. Festivals, rites and processions, fairs, demonstrations and vindication, gastronomy, social gatherings, leisure, commerce, strolling... continue to take place in them. Today, many cities in Europe have been losing this character and their old centers have been freezing, -everyone who travels, appreciates it- becoming uninhabited and have become a kind of lifeless theme parks. The public space has been disappearing, it has been privatized and shielded. From the house to the car, to work and back to the private shelter.

Pamplona has undergone transformations and its urban environment has expanded. The functional Pamplona of metropolitan dimension has been incorporating places of less clear reading, but the consolidated nucleus continues to act as an essential space for reference letter citizens.

This dimension is also contemplated in project . We want to reinterpret and extend to the new neighborhoods the original virtues of the center. We will have to discover the other public spaces, the unexpected places where new citizens, minorities and different age groups meet. In the river and its surroundings we have a protagonist axis of the new spatiality, to continue to be an example and to show a way to the European cities.

We can rely on our project and I will not be surprised if Europe recognizes us as finalists. Self-esteem is healthy.