The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the government of the Spanish province of Santiago Galicia have decided to expand exchanges through the Olle Trail and pilgrimage routes.
Governor Oh Young-hoon of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province met with Ambassador Guillermo Kirkpatrick of Spain to Korea and a delegation from the province of Galicia at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 in the office of the provincial government.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Ildefonso Kampa, Director of Pilgrimage Routes of Montenegro, Galicia, Ahn Eun-joo, CEO of Jeju Olle, and Ko Yoon-joo, Ambassador for International Relations of Jeju Province.
“With the growing popularity of Korean culture, tourism, and cinema in Spain, and the large number of Korean tourists visiting the pilgrimage route, the relationship between Korea and Spain is becoming much deeper,” said Ambassador Kirkpatrick. “We hope that 2025, the 75th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Korea and Spain, will be designated as the Year of Interaction between Jeju Island and the province of Galicia, so that there will be more active exchanges between the two regions.”
“The government of Galicia is working to promote the Camino de Santiago and the Jeju Olle Trail together at the General Assembly of 28 European countries,” said Mr. Montenegro, “And we hope that there will be continued exchanges through the Camino de Santiago and the Olle Trail in the future.”
“The Jeju Olle Trail is a great opportunity to promote Jeju to Europe,” said Governor Oh Young-hoon. “We hope that the exchanges and cooperation between Korea and Spain, Jeju Island and the province of Galicia will be strengthened in the future, and we will make further efforts to develop the two regions together.”
The Galician delegation will attend the unveiling ceremony of the Camino de Santiago symbol on the Jeju Olle Course 1 at 10 a.m. on Sept. 20.
The unveiling ceremony will be co-hosted by Jeju Island and Jeju Olle at Iseongjin Sibi Street in Seongsan, Jeju Olle Course 1.
A Galician folk music performance team will participate in the unveiling ceremony to showcase the culture of Galicia.
Meanwhile, Jeju Province signed a working exchange agreement between the governments of Jeju and Galicia in July last year after visiting the Spanish province of Galicia and installed a stone harbinger symbolizing Jeju on the pilgrimage route Areca and Monte do Gosso.
The exchange between the two regions was also selected as an outstanding case of internationalization in 2022 by the Korea Council of Metropolitan Governors.
