The Malaga Festival and Malaga City Council, through the Social Rights, Diversity, Equality and Accessibility Department, inaugurated this morning the Solidarity Space, organised once again in collaboration with 'la Caixa' Foundation. The Solidarity Space, which this year includes activities from around 40 social groups, will be held at Plaza de la Merced from today until the 9th of March.

The opening ceremony of the Solidarity Space was attended by the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the Councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage, Mariana Pineda; the territorial manager for Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla of 'la Caixa' Foundation, Juan Carlos Barroso; the head of CaixaBank's Social Action in Andalusia, and the director of the Malaga Festival, Juan Antonio Vigar.

The Mayor of Malaga highlighted the work of the groups to 'move more awareness'. Pointing out that 'there is a part of the solidary Malaga that is essentially civil society' and that manages to raise awareness of many cases thanks to the 'great network of associations and the hospitality' of the city.

During the presentation, Juan Carlos Barroso, territorial manager of 'la Caixa' Foundation in Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, also made a speech. He described the initiative as a 'bridge between culture and social issues to promote projects related to the audiovisual industry and a great example of public-private collaboration'.

On the other hand, Juan Antonio Vigar thanked the 38 social organisations that make up this year's Solidarity Space for their work and highlighted how more and more groups are opting for audiovisual productions to express their issues. 'Next year I would like all the associations to have and develop their own audiovisual project. I am committed to finding a way for all the groups to get their own biznaga award, a prize for your work', he added to the applause of the audience.

The Solidarity Space, which aims to host different social groups at the Festival and promote their inclusion, is celebrating its sixth edition with a wide-ranging programme that includes informative activities, free and open access. The different associations involved in these activities address issues related to inclusion and social issues, from violence to children and the elderly.

On Saturday, some activities took place, such as those developed by the UMARefugia programme with the screening of the audiovisual ‘Los que no sienten’ and the following discussion. There was also a presentation, screening and musical performance organised under the slogan 'Myth and reality of diversity' and the activity promoted by 'Life is a challenge', which included a screening and round table with different protagonists.

Plaza de la Merced was also the setting, as part of the Solidarity Space programme, for the action developed by APAM, the screening and discussion of the awareness campaign to make suicide behaviour visible and raise awareness. The action was organised by Alhelí association, which also included a screening and a later meeting.