Benidorm immerses itself again in Gaviria's work and thought in the presentation of the book about the sociologist

Benidorm immersed himself last night in the thought, work and figure of Mario Gaviria, during the presentation of the book-tribute on the sociologist coordinated by Antonio García Tabuenca and Francisco Domouso and in which more than 20 professionals and academics from different fields review and put in value his personality, career and contribution to the study of cities and the phenomenon of tourism.

A presentation that was held in the Assembly Hall of the City Council within the conference ‘Benidorm, a vision’, and in which in addition to the coordinators of the work participated the mayor, Toni Pérez, and Natalia Gaviria, daughter of the sociologist.

During the presentation of ‘Mario Gaviria. Thought, work and projection ’, the mayor stressed that the sociologist was“ a defender ”of the city and that“ with his colleague and friend José Miguel Iribas, he placed Benidorm as a world reference for sustainability and tourism success ”. He also announced that he will soon be able to materialize the plenary agreement to nominate a street with the name of Mario Gaviria, having already developed or planned several sectors in Poniente.

Pérez recalled that Gaviria "came in the 70s to analyze the configuration and growth of a city that he felt was going to impact" and that "caught him". From the field work developed at different times "he proposed a path of innovative approaches and enlightening ideas that marked a way forward."

Since his conviction of Benidorm as a paradigm “of the democratization of holidays”, of “ecological and sustainable urbanism” and of the city designed to generate “happiness”, Mario Gaviria was one of the promoters of the proposal for Benidorm to be considered “ World Heritage"; a path we "follow".

For its part, the sociologist's daughter recalled during the presentation some passages of her childhood lived in Benidorm during his father's study periods. A field work in which he was personally involved during his stages in Benidorm, getting to verify all the statements that her father made of a city that embodies “the right to happiness” and that for his “ecological urbanism”, “sustainable” and "vertical" facilitates "the encounter between people."

Natalia Gaviria also stressed that thanks to its urban configuration Benidorm "gets" that "older people are not even feel alone"; and encouraged public representatives and civil society to “continue taking care of Benidorm and enjoying it”.

Professor García Tabuenca gave strokes of the content of the different chapters that make up ‘Mario Gaviria. Thought, work and projection ’, in which the multiple facets of the life and work of Mario Gaviria are approached with short texts from family, friends and former members of multidisciplinary teams and collaborators in projects. Tabuenca stressed that the book "is a portrait of Mario through his work that is like doing it through his person"  Dr. Domouso highlighted in his speech the fact that Mario Gaviria "was a pioneer in introducing the sociology in urban planning and architecture ”thus improving the design and habitability of cities; and added that "Benidorm is the fulfilled prophecy of all that the sociologist told".