© image by DaLiu - Getty / iStock
Situated in the Canary Islands, facing the Atlantic Ocean, Candelaria is one of the main sites of Christian pilgrimage in the Canary Islands. Throughout the year, it hosts both visitors from mainland Spain and tourists coming from all over Europe.
For the municipality of Candelaria, providing high-quality, secure and free Wi-Fi connectivity through the WiFi4EU initiative was an opportunity they could not miss. As an active participant in many European programmes, from Erasmus to the European Territorial Cooperation programme (Interreg), Candelaria saw in the WiFi4EU offer a great potential to improve digital services and connectivity in its territory.
Unlike many other municipalities who decided to install the WiFi4EU access points close to the city centre, Mayor Mari Brito explained that their number one priority when choosing the location of the Wi-Fi spots was to make sure that citizens living in the midlands could have equal access opportunities as those residing in the centre of the municipality. The fourteen WiFi4EU hotspots are thus scattered around Candelaria, including in the nearby towns of Araya, Cuevecitas, Malpaís, Barranco Hondo and Igueste. More specifically, the mayor chose cultural and educational centres, administration premises, health centres, museums, public squares, parks, public libraries and exhibition centres, where a large number of citizens usually need to connect for a variety of different services.
In the picture: Mari Brito, Mayor of Candelaria; Marc Berghmans, WiFi4EU Project Officer
Overall, the municipality of Candelaria was very satisfied with the WiFi4EU initiative. Mayor Brito underlined the “high-quality user experience” offered by the WiFi4EU service. She also expressed gratitude towards European projects of this sort:
This is one of the ways in which democracy is embodied: free, universal and equal access for all residents and non-residents to connectivity services that enable fair, intelligent, educated and informed societies. This kind of initiative breaks down the digital divide that, until not long ago, prevented or made access to information very difficult.
Candelaria is very proud of having participated in the WiFi4EU initiative and will continue to contribute to the common European goal of transforming connectivity into a right, available to all citizens and including to those with limited economic or technical resources.