On May 12th, the Board of Directors of the Cooperation Network of the Routes of Emperor Charles V held a meeting in virtual format, with a high participation of members of the board, and in which various issues concerning the network and its members were discussed.
The president of the Network, Miguel Ángel Martín Ramos, reported on the current status of the projects underway, such as the Laredo-Yuste Cycle Route, which is planned for the end of September or the beginning of October, and which has been put on hold until the situation is normalised; the transfer of the "SUMMER COURSE / YUSTE CAMPUS "CHARLES V AND THE SEA: THE MAGELLANIC CIRCUMNAVIGATION TRIP - THE CANOE AND THE SPICE AGE" to 23rd, 24th and 25th September, provided that the exceptional circumstances of the health crisis allow it.
Likewise, the celebration of the Board of Directors and General Assembly, scheduled for the 21st of August in Medina del Campo, coinciding with the acts of celebration of the V Centenary of the Burning of Medina, was dealt with. Due to the situation caused by the COVID-19, it was decided to postpone this celebration until next year, as well as to look for both physical and virtual alternatives to hold a new Board of Directors and General Assembly in the last quarter of the present year.
In the same sense, the state of the International Forum of the Cooperation Network commemorating the V centenary of the Coronation and the meeting of the Scientific Committee, planned for 23rd and 24th October in Brussels and Ghent, in whose celebration it continues working, was discussed; and the temporary suspension of the Training Academy proposed between 26th and 29th May in Fontainebleau (France) by the Institute of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe was reported. The Consultative Forum on Cultural Routes, to be held on 7th, 8th and 9th October in Chania (Greece), will continue for the time being.
Another aspect highlighted by the president of the Network of Routes of the Emperor Charles V was the granting of subsidies for two projects: Erasmus+ KA105: Let's cook our heritage, let's cook our future and Erasmus+ KA105: Circular Cultural Tourism, whose development will be an incentive of interest for projects presented by members of our route network. During the last few months another five projects have been submitted to European calls (Erasmus +, Europe for Citizens, Creative Europe), and are awaiting resolution.
On the other hand, this Board of Directors also reported on the state of tourism marketing of the Routes of Emperor Charles V, with very favorable prospects until September. In this sense, several experiences for families and small groups had been budgeted for during the month of February, of which two had already been carried out in Cantabria. For the rest of the months there was a total of 18 requests for weekend experiences for Extremadura, 14 for Cantabria and 16 for the Wine Route of rueda, all of them until May, and which have been cancelled by the COVID-19. However, the prospects for the future are quite positive.
Finally, it was pointed out that this is the first experience of commercialisation of the network of routes, and that the rest of the territories of the Cooperation Network of the Routes of Emperor Charles V will be included in the successive commercialisation developments.
