2024 has been bittersweet for me. On the one hand, it marked one year since the opening of the Hortensia Herrero Art Centre, one of my most important and dearest projects. On the other hand, it was the year of the DANA weather disaster, which brought so much misfortune and destruction to the province of Valencia. I have wanted to dedicate a significant part of the Foundation’s resources to helping with the recovery of this devastated area.

The year began with very good news: the prestigious newspaper The New York Times selected the Hortensia Herrero Art Centre as one of the 52 places to visit in the world in 2024 — one for each week of the year — and it was the only location chosen in Spain. This was a major international endorsement for a project that had only been open for a few months at the time and has since welcomed more than 200,000 visitors in its first year. Initially, most of the visitors were local, but gradually, tourists — who are coming to Valencia in increasing numbers — have included us on their must-see list, alongside such emblematic sites as La Lonja, the Cathedral, and the City of Arts and Sciences. This fills us with pride. In 2024, more than 30,000 international tourists visited the art centre.

The centre houses over one hundred works by fifty artists and has also begun offering gastronomic, musical, and educational activities in order to reach broader audiences and provide a more dynamic cultural offering, especially for Valencian residents who already know us and want to experience the space in a different way.

The restoration of the Church of Santos Juanes has been another project that required significant attention this year. The restoration of the façade has been completed, and the scaffolding covering it has been removed, revealing once again the splendour of this magnificent building. The next step is the restoration of the important frescoes painted by Palomino on the church’s dome, which is expected to be completed in 2025 by a team led by restorer Pilar Roig and architect Carlos Campos, who did such a wonderful job on the Church of San Nicolás, one of our most beloved projects.

Dance has once again played a key role in the Foundation’s activity through the Balletvale+ project, which does such vital work with children with special motor needs, and the Valencia International Dance Campus, which celebrated its 15th edition and brought together 127 dancers from all over the world.

Two other regular events in our programming — Abierto Valencia and the PAM exhibition — were also held again in 2024, with great success. Regarding Abierto Valencia, this year the winners of our acquisition prizes were Lara Ordóñez from the Vangar gallery and Nico Munuera from the Tuesday to Friday gallery.

But as I said at the beginning, the DANA tragically marked the end of 2024, with a wave of destruction that ravaged many towns in the province of Valencia. That is why we decided to focus all our efforts on helping the affected population. Our aid was directed toward the traditional Valencian textile sector in the area; to 18 Valencian musical societies, helping them replace instruments damaged by flooding; to 7 affected dance schools; and to 11 educational centres in 8 towns, along with several playgrounds. This aid has amounted to four million euros and will continue through 2025, as many needs remain unmet due to the extensive destruction caused by the torrential rains.

All of this has been possible thanks to the human team at the Foundation, which once again this year has demonstrated great professionalism in carrying out all these efforts. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their dedication in making all of this a reality from which thousands of citizens have already benefited.