Valladolid City Council strengthens the city's international profile in India

With the celebration of the Spain-India Dual Year 2026 on the horizon, Valladolid City Council has carried out an institutional visit to India led by the mayor, Jesús Julio Carnero. The official agenda included meetings with local authorities, business representatives and leaders from the audiovisual sector. The aim: to strengthen cultural, economic and diplomatic ties.

In Ahmedabad, the Valladolid delegation paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi with a floral offering. This gesture reinforces the city's historical link with the Indian leader, whose bust has presided over Peace Park since 2001. The delegation then met with a group of Ahmedabad businesspeople, to whom they explained the opportunities for business, investment and urban innovation in Valladolid. As the mayor pointed out, as part of the Valladolid-Ahmedabad twinning agreement, the aim is to ‘take advantage of the complementary potential of the two cities: Valladolid's experience in sustainable mobility, renewable energies, advanced logistics and cultural heritage, together with Ahmedabad's business and technological dynamism’.

The delegation then travelled to the city of Agra, in Uttar Pradesh, to promote cooperation in tourism and heritage. The meeting served to learn about the work carried out by the municipality since 2016 as part of the ‘100 Smart Cities’ initiative. This work includes projects to incorporate new technologies into the promotion of tourism and heritage management.

Later, in Mumbai, Jesús Julio Carnero met with representatives from Yash Raj Films, the production company that recently shot scenes for the film “Alpha” in Valladolid. The producer of this film, which will be released in December in more than 7,000 cinemas, described the experience in Valladolid as ‘the best’ of all their shoots. 

In New Delhi, the mayor met with the director of the Indian government's Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Nandini Singla, to advance collaborative projects during the upcoming Spain-India Dual Year 2026. The ICCR, together with Valladolid City Council and the University of Valladolid, are the founding patrons of Casa de la India. According to Jesús Julio Carnero, ‘we want to continue to count on the support of the ICCR, through our Casa de la India, as there are only two other centres like this in Europe, in London and Berlin, and that is why we feel we are protagonists of the culture and way of life of a country as important as India’.

The Valladolid delegation also held meetings with representatives of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), including its president, Jyoti Raje Scindia. These meetings addressed possible collaborations in sectors such as the automotive industry, agribusiness, energy and culture. ‘Valladolid wants to be a link between Spanish companies and the booming Indian business ecosystem. Our city has a development model based on sustainability, innovation and support for entrepreneurship, and we are here to share it, learn from institutions such as FICCI and build alliances that benefit both territories,’ said the mayor after the meeting.

Read the news on the Valladolid City Council website:

▪️ Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad

▪️ Renewal of the Twinning Protocol with Ahmedabad

▪️ Meeting with the Ahmedabad business community

▪️ Meeting with officials from Agra City Council

▪️ Meeting with the director of the ICCR

▪️ Meeting with the president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

▪️ Visit to the film production company Yash Raj Films