The 2024 Europe Prize has been awarded to Terrassa, Spain. This award is given annually by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the town most active in promoting the European ideal. Terrassa is a city of 225,000 inhabitants in central-eastern Catalonia (Spain). A university and industrial city, it has a long history in European relations, with a specific department to manage European affairs, created more than twenty years ago.
Numerous Europe-related events are organised in Terrassa: European Music Day, European Day of Languages, Europe Day with schools, European Sustainable Energy Week, European Mobility Week, European Heritage Days, and European Week for Waste Prevention. European cohesion and European values are promoted for young students in, for example, the CIM School of Terrassa which is an Ambassador School of the European Parliament.
Contacts with other European cities are encouraged through twinning cities, with the participation in European projects (like ERASMUS+), or by bilateral activities. Terrassa is twinned with four cities: Pamiers (France), Granada (Nicaragua), Tetouan (Morocco) and Tecoluca (El Salvador) and collaborates in several fields, including democracy, local autonomy and good governance. Terrassa is part of several city networks such as Eurocities, UCLG, and also more sectoral networks related to its local identity such as the European Art Nouveau Network or the European Coalition of Cities against Racism.
Four other towns - Rambouillet in France, Bamberg in Germany, and Formigine in Italy - were shortlisted for the Prize, and the Committee commended their applications. Additionally, the committee awarded three Plaques of Honour, four Flags of Honour, and five European Diplomas - awards that also form part of the Europe Prize. Established in 1955 by PACE, the Europe Prize is the highest distinction awarded to a European town for its actions in the European domain. The Prize includes a trophy, a medal, a diploma, and a scholarship to be spent on a study visit to European institutions for young people from the winning town.
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