Ambassador of Spain Jose Maria Ridao Dominguez was recently in town and kept a date with the Spanish volunteers who are currently doing social service in the city, mostly with the Missionaries of Charity.
Honorary consul of Spain Sunil Kanoria hosted a party at Monkey Bar at Fort Knox recently where the ambience was lively and the music upbeat.
The ambassador reached around 8pm with his wife Silvina Bacigalupo. “I am in Calcutta for a G20 meet against corruption. It is one of the last ministerial meetings before the summit in mid-September when our Prime Minister will come. This is a good opportunity for me to meet the volunteers and express my gratitude to them for coming here to help. Their work contributes to strengthening ties between the two countries,” the ambassador told t2. Mother (Saint) Teresa, he added, is “an example to many young people” (in Spain) and they want to “come here to learn about the work she did”.
Among the volunteers, some had been here before, like Andres Fernandez-Cornejo. This was his third trip to India after 2015 and 2016. He has been to Iraq and Syria too, volunteering with an NGO that helps victims of genocide. Like him, Juana Parras Colomo was on his third visit. “Calcutta is a cool city. My favourite haunts here are the Coffee House and the Maidan,” he said.
Ines Garcia-Nieto was not only back the third time, but this time had her boyfriend Federico Soriano alongside her. “He wanted to understand why this place is important to me,” she said, turning to him with a smile. “I told him I was leaving by myself even if he did not want to come. One day, he walked in with flight tickets for both of us.”
right- Raima Sen
Ines said the best part of her work was the look of gratitude she got when she cleaned wounds of destitutes. “Even their families have left them. When they see me touch them with so much care, the look on their faces is amazing,” she said. “When you see these people, you understand that your problems are nothing compared to theirs,” added Federico.
In his speech, the ambassador advised them to treat all that they saw in Calcutta as lessons that they could apply in life when they returned to Spain.
Kanoria said the number of Spanish volunteers in the city had dwindled after Covid from over 200 to 50-60. “They have to undertake a long trip to come here and they work hard all day. We organise such parties so that they can experience the bright side of the city too and enjoy themselves. Sometimes we also organise tours to historic places in the city for them,” he said.
Sujit Kanoria, chairman emeritus of Sarga Hotels that run Westin KolkataRajarhat, with niece Avani
He urged the volunteers to be the city’s brand ambassadors. “Have a good time here outside of work and promote Calcutta when you go back,” he said.
A good time, for many of them, is shopping at New Market. Caterina Davoli wore a cotton kurti as did Marta Valero. “It’s so comfortable,” they said. Caterina had also discovered the trinket shops at the market and flaunted newly-purchased rings, along with her friend Giulia Mazza.
Spanish volunteers with Antonio Mesas, founder of Colores de Calcuta (seated in white shirt)
Raima Sen dropped by later. “I am reminded of the fun my sister Riya and I had when we toured Barcelona in 2015,” she said.