SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio has a new sister city.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Felipe Fernando Macías Olvera, mayor of Querétaro, officially signed a sister city agreement on Tuesday at the Alamo.
The location is significant for both cities — Mission San Antonio de Valero, which would later be known as the Alamo, was established over 300 years ago by Spanish friars who traveled from Querétaro, according to a news release.
“San Antonio and Querétaro share a history that dates back to the very founding of our city, and today’s agreement ensures that our partnership continues to thrive for generations to come,” Nirenberg said in the release, in part.
Querétaro is located northwest of Mexico City, over 700 miles from San Antonio.
A direct flight between the two cities was announced at the ceremony, as well as the launch of a cultural exchange program, Al Otro Lado del Espejo.
The program has “involved a broad section of the San Antonio academic, artistic, and corporate communities and which will continue into the future,” the release says.
In addition to Querétaro, San Antonio maintains sister city relationships with 12 other cities:
- Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico (Established 1953)
- Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (Established 1974)
- Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain (Established 1975)
- Gwangju, South Korea (Established 1981)
- Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Established 1982)
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain (Established 1983)
- Kumamoto, Japan (Established 1987)
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (Established 2008)
- Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China (Established 2012)
- Windhoek, Namibia (Established 2016)
- Darmstadt, Germany (Established 2017)
- Baguio, Philippines (Established 2022)
The Sister Cities International program was founded by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Sister city agreements are signed by mayors and approved by City Council.
The agreements are designed to “foster international collaboration,” the release says.
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