The second edition of the Radio and Heritage Conference has once again been included by the Council of Europe in its Official Program.

It seemed difficult to match the level achieved in “Punta Begoña, Zuzenean 2024”:

Live radio, a live audience, performances, illustrious figures, colloquiums, debates, connections with international radio stations, and broadcasting via airwaves and digital channels filled the Galleries with life and helped bring the project closer to thousands of people worldwide.

The Association of Radio and Television Journalists of Euskadi presented an award to the activity, with the Jury particularly highlighting:

“the wide participation of professionals and the public in the Conference held at Punta Begoña, its following by tens of thousands of people worldwide through the airwaves and social networks, the collaboration with international stations, its contribution to the content coordinated by the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, its validation as a cultural activity by the Ministry of Culture, and its incorporation into the Official Program of the Council of Europe”.

For this reason, at the Punta Begoña Foundation, we designed a special program for 2025 that would live up to the anniversaries celebrated during the European Heritage Days of that year:

• On one hand, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the European Charter of the Architectural Heritage.

• And on the other, the same anniversary of Bizkaia’s incorporation into the European Heritage Days

With the aim of broadening the vision of what architectural heritage is and how it “touches” the daily life of every person, a group of professionals from very diverse fields spoke to us about the way music, culture, films, faith, administration, health and healthcare, solidarity, news, scientific projects, and life itself are designed and built.

Every Friday in Urria, the mornings at Punta Begoña became a festival of cultures and thought, featuring dialogues, live performances, book and album launches, project presentations, and active public participation.

Zuzenean 2025 was not only included once again in the European Official Program, but on this occasion, the Council of Europe included the Galleries in the exclusive list of European Heritage Stories Sites as a “Belvedere for History”.

Architectural tours to learn about the work of Ricardo Bastida, the monument’s technical director, or dramatized visits led by Horacio Echevarrieta—the promoter of the galleries and one of the most important businessmen in Spanish history—enriched the program. Together with the “Time Travel from Punta Begoña”, thematic visits, and landscape routes, they provided a comprehensive offering during the final quarter of the year.

We are working on the 2026 edition, with the goal that this festival of culture, radio, heritage, and people continues to grow and bring the historical legacy that belongs to society closer to everyone.