Palma and Düsseldorf twinned in a city hall ceremony

THE cities of Palma and Düsseldorf were twinned at a ceremony held in the city hall yesterday. The agreement was signed by Joan Fageda, the Mayor of Palma, and Joachim Erwin, the Mayor of Düsseldorf. Erwin, speaking in Spanish, said that no airport in Germany had more connections with Palma, adding that the five airlines which link the two cities carry 900'000 people a year. Düsseldorf has some 570'000 inhabitants and it has links with Palma not only through tourism but through an agreement between the Düsseldorf savings bank and Sa Nostra. Erwin also spoke of the cultural ties between the two cities, pointing out that 85'000 people visited an exhibition on Joan Miró in Düsseldorf last year. Fageda, for his part, spoke of plans to strengthen the ties between the two cities, especially in the fields of finance, culture and transport “at a time of international uncertainty.” The Mayor of Palma presented Erwin with a statue of a Balearic stone slinger and a lithograph of Majorcan dancers by Coll Bardolet. Erwin responded with a large panoramic photograph of Düsseldorf and a wristwatch with a hologram of the city's coat of arms. The two Mayors then opened an exhibition of photographs of Düsseldorf at the courtyard in the city hall.
Joachim Erwin was then named Mayor of Bellver Castle.
Later, Balearic businessmen met members of the German group which accompanied Mayor Erwin.