The presentation of the book "The attraction of a cosmopolitan city. Castellanos y Leoneses en La Habana, by Juan Andres Blanco Rodriguez, took place at the Center for the Interpretation of Cuba-Europe Cultural Relations, located in what used to be the Palace of the Second Cape.

Habana Radio stresses that the title is a triumph of those present and a tribute to those who were no longer there to celebrate.

At the ceremony, Onedys Calvo, director of the Center, said that the existence of her institution was always a dream of Eusebio Leal and many friends in Europe.

According to this media, the former Palacio del Segundo Cabo, which was the place from where disputes traveling from Cuba to Spain and from the peninsula to the island were sent and received, now preserves the mission of maintaining the links of more than 5 centuries between both nations.

In that sense, Onedys Calvo expressed: "This center has been with that will. That always from the contemporaneity we are the bridge back and forth", and assured that these links are still in force.

The event was attended by His Excellency Mr. Francisco Requejo, President of the Provincial Council of Zamora, located in Castilla-León, Spain, who addressed words of thanks to the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana and to the Cuban people.

Also present were María Antonia Rabanillo, president of the Zamorano Colony in Cuba, and His Excellency Dr. Marco Antonio Peñín Toledano, Consul of the Spanish Embassy in Havana.

 Eusebio Leal had a powerful presence in this presentation, dedicated to his memory. Photo: Taken from Radio Havana

Dedicated to the memory of Eusebio Leal, the meeting included a brief interview to the eternal Historian of Havana, about this publication to which his performance contributed so much: "We are part of the American Spain because, among other things, we are united by the language, which is the common homeland of all of us", highlighted the captivating voice of Leal Spengler.

For his part, Juan Andrés Blanco Rodríguez, author of the work The Attraction of a Cosmopolitan City, said that the simple sensation of leafing through the signature book of the Zamorano Colony of Cuba transported him to a place that, without being Spain, he felt as if he had been transported home.

Professor Juan Andrés Blanco. Photo: Taken from Radio Havana

Likewise, the distinguished professor of the University of Salamanca, recognized by Zamoranos as the Master of Emigration, explained that the flow of Castilians and Leonese to Cuba was decisive in the early years of colonization and how it continued in significant numbers even after the Wars of Independence until well into the 20th century.

According to Radio Habana, the renowned professor acknowledged that his family has a strong bond with our country and that is reflected in his book with the story of one of his great uncles who died in combat, serving as a soldier in the Spanish expeditionary forces during Cuba's Wars of Independence. His father, he recalled, did business in Cuba, and one of his aunts in Cuba paid for his studies in Spain through one of the Cuban-Spanish organizations that continue to this day.

Professor Juan Andrés Blanco related his family history to the migratory flow. Photo: Taken from Radio Havana

The constancy of relations between emigrants and their descendants in Cuba and Spain is a beautiful phenomenon to which he dedicates his book. Their constancy over the years, regardless of economic difficulties or the instability of political relations, are a proof of the strength and transcendence of these ties, just as the work of Professor Juan Andres Blanco Rodriguez is a faithful testimony of this half millennium of moving and extraordinary human relations, highlights Radio Habana.