Mijas town hall celebrates 40 years of help and support for the foreign community

Mijas is a community renowned for its multiculturalism - with over 120 different nationalities living there, the foreigners department is necessary to support the town's diversity. Forty years after the department’s launch, representatives from the council and local organisations came together to acknowledge its achievements.

Sponsored by Cajamar, My Lawyer in Spain, Lumon, Blacktower and Avalon, and organised by Mijas town hall - the event on 27 May showcased the town's ever-growing international community. Katja Thirion and Laura Córdoba, now at the helm of the foreigners department, hosted the afternoon's activities and welcomed the audience and award winners in Spanish and English.

Local councillor Mario Bravo kicked off the event by sharing the "secret" to "40 years of success" in the municipality. According to him, the key to successful coexistence in such a diverse community was the creation of the foreigners department. The PP councillor also paid tribute to Juan Vicente who made the first steps by volunteering one day a week to help international residents in Mijas.

Mayor of Mijas Ana Mata thanked the foreigners department for all its effort in supporting the municipality's "perfect symbiosis". Mijas "was a pioneer" with the establishment of the department - the first of its kind in Spain.

Mijas Comunicación showed a video, an amalgamation of footage from 1985 up to now, to demonstrate how far the department has come. Founding member Anette Skou, recently retired, spent 35 years as the head of the foreign department. She received an award and thanked her colleagues for their continued work with the international population.

Thirion and Córdoba welcomed many local organisations to commemorate their contribution to the foreign population in Mijas. Special recognition went out to the consular corps; event organisers; press; associations and social clubs; collaborative businesses; networking opportunities; and the event's sponsors. SUR in English and SUR deutsche Ausgabe received awards for local international press alongside Mijas Comunicación.

The evening was rounded off by a performance from Pop Academia Fama dance school who performed traditional dances from across the world in the surprise finale.

After the speeches, audience members were invited across the road from the town hall for drinks and refreshments at the Centro Cultural de La Cala de Mijas.