2 July 2012 - The Filipino community in Madrid celebrated its annual Barrio Fiesta on June 24 at the Colegio de San Agustin in Madrid.
The festivities began with a mass celebrated by Chaplain Fr. Jun Castro, SVD, together with other Filipino priests based in Madrid.
Messages from President Benigno S. Aquino III, Vice President Jejomar Binay, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto F. del Rosario, and Labor Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz were also read.
After the mass, Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos C. Salinas proceeded to the ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony, which inaugurated the Barrio Fiesta. This was followed by the parade of various Filipino associations in Spain and the formal opening of the numerous booths that sold dry goods, traditional and popular Filipino food items such as kakanins, barbeque, lechon kawali, halo-halo, pansit, lumpia, etc., and service providers such as remittance, travel, real estate and phone cards companies.
In order to take advantage of the gathered crowd, the Embassy actively promoted registration for overseas absentee voting and extended full consular services to the public.
The main program for the Barrio Fiesta was organized by the Filipino Community with both modern and traditional song and dance numbers presented by the various Filipino associations in Spain.
The raffle, in which six (6) roundtrip tickets to the Philippines and cash prizes amounting to more than €2,000 were given away, was among the most highly anticipated activities of the day along with the surprise visit of AZKAL Juani Girado, and the performance by teen heartthrob Mr. Rayver Cruz of The Filipino Channel (ABS-CBN/TFC).
An estimated 2000 guests were present throughout the day-long festivities. Filipino associations as far away as Marbella, Valencia, Barcelona, and Bilbao made the trip to Madrid to take part in the Barrio Fiesta celebrations. END.