Montañés Pascual, president of the Castilla del Oro Foundation in Panama, apart from his knowledge of history and the many activities he undertakes, is an entertainer par excellence. In the recent tour conducted by Christopher Columbus, Duke of Veragua, in Panama, the foundation was invited by the Panamanian Association of Business Executives’ (APEDE) Tourism Commission for its members to know firsthand the group’s objectives.

Montañés surprised the audience by saying that “the first Catholic church on the continent is in Natá de los Caballeros, which is the capital of Castilla del Oro.”

He added that “we took long to discover that this church is” dedicated to Santiago de Compostela. We seek to turn this place into the fourth destination of St. James as the previous three are in Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. What slogan do we have? “The road does not end in Santiago de Compostela.” Imagine what this would mean should the road actually end in Panama.

He added that another effort that can be developed is religious tourism. As an example, he said “Holy Week in Seville produces more revenue than the fair itself,” meaning that religious tourism produces wealth.

On the other hand, Colón de Carvajal used his lecture to weigh Montañés’ concerns, about which he said “from the onset the project seemed exciting,” referring to a bilateral discussion held in the near past with Dr. Pascual González, the foundation’s president in Panama.

Referring to the type of tourism that the Castilla del Oro Foundation –effort that entrepreneur Richard Feifer-Carles encourages– wants to develop in Panama, the illustrious visitor stressed that what is sought is “to develop a type of tourism on the lines of rural tourism.”

The proposed tourism seeks to retain “people in their natural surroundings so they do not move to urban areas.”

He stressed that “Spain is the world’s second best in rural tourism after France,” hence the experience can serve as a reference for Panama to strengthen this important sector.

The Duke highlights that Spain “receives 58 million tourists a year, more than our population.” Spain has evolved over these 40 years.

“The Castilla del Oro Foundation’s goal for Panama is to achieve tourism development in the central provinces as a means of raising its inhabitants’ living standards, for them to reach development beyond what thus far is simply reduced to agriculture and livestock.”

We are talking about the provinces of Herrera, Veraguas, Los Santos, Coclé and Colon based on a coordinated and strategically-thought-out tourism project; we intend to launch an entire plan which generates jobs based on tourism, attracting tourists to get all the development we want there.

Wreath

The Duke of Veragua, Cristobal Colon de Carvajal pauses to distinguish the famous Genovese explorer who changed the worlds coordinates with a wreath.

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