Caldes de Montbui, near Barcelona is the host of the 2022 Café of Europe. While it’s close to the city of Barcelona, it also adjoins rolling countryside, a productive region producing many crops for the local towns and villages.
Thermal Water in Caldes de Montbui rises at appox 74 oC and gives rise to the slogan of the town “El que bull” – a reference not only to the “boiling” water but the exuberance of the local people and their culture.
Caldes de Monbui has developed many uses for thermal waters, from being a key ingredient in local gastronomic specialities to irrigating crops in the fields with waste thermal water. This is an ancient tradition which has been reinstated after a restoration project in the “thermal orchards”. Read more about this award-winning project here.
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Global moderator, Simone Zagrodnik, EHTTA Executive Director
| 15.00h – 15:15h | Opening Manuel Baltar, President of EHTTA Isidre Pineda, Mayor of Caldes de Montbui Damià Serrano, Director of Experiences Marketing of the Catalan Tourism Agency of the Generalitat de Catalunya |
| Live stream starts at 14.45 CET | |
| 15:15h – 15:30h | Presentation “Thermal Villages: Rural development opportunities” Mario Crecente, President of the EHTTA Scientific Committee |
| 15:30h – 15:45h | “Best Tourism Villages 2021” Patricia Carmona, UNWTO Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness Department |
| 15:45h – 16:30h | Roundtable 1 – Thermal Villages, Isidre Pineda, Moderator Caldes de Montbui Isidre Pineda, Mayor of Caldes de Montbui, President of Thermal Villages in Catalunya Thermal Villages in Catalunya Dolors Castellà , Mayor of La Garriga (Barcelona) Kenneth Martínez, Mayor of El Vendrell (Tarragona) Sergi Mir, Vice-President of Thermal Villages in Catalunya and Councillor of Tourism, Caldes de Malavella (Girona) Saint-Paul-lès-Dax Julien Bazus, Mayor of Saint-Paul-lès-Dax (France) |
| 16:30h – 16:45h | Coffee break |
| 16:45h – 17:45h | Roundtable 2 – Experiences at the European level (moderated by Mario Crecente) Fátima Saraiva, Public Relations Manager, Termas S. Pedro do Sul Emma González, Manager of INORDE (Institute for Economic Development of Ourense Province) Julia Palotas, Director of Bad Ems City Museum Tania Akritidou, Marketing Manager Halkidiki Tourism Organization |
| 17:45h – 18:00h | Closing Simone Zagrodnik, EHTTA Executive Director Mario Crecente, President of the EHTTA Scientific Committee |
