Sevilla and Santo Domingo have formalized a sister-city agreement. The mayor of Sevilla, José Luis Sanz, and the mayor of Santo Domingo’s National District, Carolina Mejía, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday, 2 June 2025 at the Spanish city hall, officially declaring the sisterhood between the two capitals.
Interestingly, Sevilla owns up to having the remains of the discoverer of the Americas, Christopher Columbus. The Dominican Republic claims the remains rest in the Christopher Columbus Lighthouse in eastern Santo Domingo.
The sisterhood agreement paves the way for joint initiatives such as fairs, congresses, seminars, cultural and artistic exchanges, and collaborative tourism promotion and dissemination projects.
The ceremony was originally scheduled for early in April 2025, but was postponed after the devastating JetSet tragedy.
Emphasizing the shared history between the cities, Sanz noted: “Sevilla and Santo Domingo have a reciprocal historical connection, from the Colonial City to the Seville of the Indies, and a mutual commitment to global openness. They boast incomparable cultural wealth, a patrimonial legacy—including their cathedrals and Plaza de España—and our common language. Both cities serve as gateways for exchange between Europe and America.”
The Sevilla mayor celebrated the sisterhood as a seal of approval for future opportunities. “From the local level, we can generate global impacts and build bridges that foster economic development, culture, folklore, quality tourism, and urban sustainability,” he said.
The mayor announced that Sevilla is preparing a historic event: the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. The mayor says that with this celebration in 2029, the city aims to reaffirm its leadership role with Ibero-America.
Sevilla has sisterhood agreements with several cities outside of Spain. Other sister cities in Latin America are Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; Guadalajara, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Havana, Cuba; and San Salvador, El Salvador. Sister cities in Europe are Angers, France; Krakow, Poland and Dusseldorf, Germany in Europe. In the United States, Kansas City, Kansas and Columbus, Ohio are sister cities. In Africa, Marrakech, Morocco has a similar agreement with Sevilla.
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Diario Libre
4 June 2025