Spain

On 21 October 2016, the library of the Real Maestranza in Ronda (Málaga) hosted the 9th Iberian History Competition prize-giving ceremony. Organised by the Portuguese Association of History Teachers and the Real Maestranza de Caballería, this year’s competition encouraged students from Spain, Portugal and the Americas to explore the topic of «Heritage».

The ceremony was opened by Rafeal Atienza, Lieutenant of the Grand Brother, who highlighted the excellence and effort demonstrated by the awarded winners, as well as the role played by their teachers and parents in their success.

The EUSTORY Executive Committee stressed the high quality of the reports submitted in this edition. 274 students took part, submitting 76 research projects, which doubled last year’s participation. Contributions came from almost every region of Spain, as well as from Portugal, Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina and Guatemala. Most of the winning contributions had the support of one or two tutors and reinforced their research results by using creative formats such as apps, 3D recreations, videos, audios, blogs, websites, and interactive presentations.

The winning contribution was «Arte románico en Corullón. Lo que permanece y lo que se perdió» (Romanesque Art in Corullón. What remains and what was lost), by Jorge Delgado Blanco, Ignacio Mañá Mesas and Aitor Yebra Gómez, from IES Europa de Ponferrada (León), and tutor Francisco Javier Corral Rodríguez. The project highlights the town’s heritage as part of their collective identity and as a possible means for local revitalization and artistic inspiration.

Second place prizes went to students from Valencia, Burgos and Gandía in Spain and from Quito in Ecuador. Maria Barriuso Ortega received an award for the second year in a row, this time for an outstanding video documentary about a local composer (Antonio José). Beatriz Marqués García, Iuliana Muscalu and Irene Noguera Alonso from Valencia prepared a 3D reconstruction of Bernias’ fort and the group from Gandia –the youngest– was recognised for their realistic dramatisation of life around the old wall in their hometown.

Five third place prizes were given to students from Logroño, Castellón, Sigüenza, Pamplona and Barcelona in Spain. “Ekain”, by Diego Rodríguez Robredo, was an artistic reinterpretation of rupestrian artworks in a prehistorian cave. Andrea Sierra Serrano collected the prize for a research contribution about Sigüenza in which the group she belonged to discussed their city’s heritage through a walk. And both Irene Apesteguía Liñán and Sonia Pérez Aranguren, from Navarra, and Miquel Conesa Torrandell, Bernat Bayer Mena and Victor Busquets Puente, from Barcelona, conducted their research into a building within their own school which had a different use in the past.

Finally, fourteen contributions received special mention. Jose Carlos Gómez Cabral and Miguel Parra Calderon discovered the rich heritage of the African town of Tetuán thanks to the testimony of their tutor, Victor Lobato. Students from Portugal, Guatemala and Spain also submitted outstanding academic works, most of them retelling the history of local heritage and proposing innovative measure to improve its preservation and its contribution to the activity of the hometown.

After the awarding of diplomas, Paula María López, teacher at Colegio Abecé de Gandía (Valencia), representing Eustory tutors, expressed their gratitude in a speech that highlighted the role of Eustory in education. She remarked that students’ participation contributed to the development of their critical thinking and independence.

After the ceremony, attendees had the opportunity to visit the historical Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda bullring and to enjoy a reception in the patio.