1992 - Madrid Cultural Capital of Europe 29.7.1991

On May 27, 1988, the Council of Ministers of Culture of the European Community decided to declare Madrid as the European Capital of Culture for 1992. Amongst the four stamps issued to celebrate this occasion were these two on the FDC.

(25+5) Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz de Mudela (December 12, 1526 – February 9, 1588), was a Spanish admiral.

(45+5) The Bank of Spain (Banco de España), is the national central bank of Spain. Established in Madrid in 1782 by Charles III, today the bank is a member of the European System of Central Banks. It is also the national supervisor of the Spanish banking system. Its activity is regulated by the Law of Autonomy of the Banco de España.

The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension.

Preparing a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for the city to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city's image and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale.

In 1985, former actress Melina Mercouri, then Greece’s Minister of Culture, and her French counterpart Jack Lang came up with the idea of designating an annual Capital of Culture to bring Europeans closer together by highlighting the richness and diversity of European cultures and raising awareness of their common history and values.

The Commission of the European Union manages the title and each year the Council of Ministers of the European Union formally designates European Capitals of Culture: more than 40 cities have been designated so far.

An international panel of cultural experts is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified by the European Union.

A 2004 study conducted for the European Commission, know as the "Palmer report", demonstrated that the choice of European Capital of Culture served as a catalyst for the cultural development and the transformation of the city.^[1] Consequently, the beneficial socio-economic development and impact for the chosen city are now also considered in determining the chosen cities.

With the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Expo '92 in Seville and a host of quincentennial celebrations throughout the land, 1992 was indeed the Year of Spain. Not to be upstaged by these events, the Spanish capital, Madrid, has also planned a rich agenda of events, activities and spectacles to fulfill its role as 1992 European Cultural Capital.

In many ways this honour marks Madrid's recent coming of age as a world-class capital. Not since Spain's Golden Age in the 16th and 17th centuries has Madrid been such a hotbed of cultural and commercial activity. In the freshly democratic 1980s, the movida madrilena, which loosely translates as the Madrid Happening, kicked off the capital's whirlwind comeback with a social renaissance that sparked the city's long dormant vitality and imagination.

Thank you Merja.