Más de mil jóvenes celebran 20 años del proyecto de educación lectora junto a finalistas del Premio Hache

More than 1,400 students aged between 12 and 14 years from about thirty educational centers in Cartagena participated on Wednesday in the meeting with the finalist authors of the Hache Award 2025, promoted by the Youth Department of the Cartagena City Council. Mayor Noelia Arroyo accompanied the students during this activity, where they were able to converse with the authors Patricia Reim�ndez, David Nel�lo, and Beatriz Berrocal. This Thursday, the meeting with Isaac S�nchez, Paloma Chen, and Luc�a Carballal, candidates for the Mandarache Award, will take place.

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The mayor has noted that this is a very special edition because in 2025, the municipal reading education project, the Mandarache and Hache Awards, is celebrating 20 years. Arroyo recalled how it has grown over these two decades thanks to the commitment of the City Council, which has strengthened its budget allocation from the 60,000 euros that were allocated years ago to the 160,000 euros it currently has: «It is important that it continues to be strengthened within the municipality with educational centers, but also that it continues to grow as a Cartagena brand with the internationalization project Orillas Mandarache,» she added.

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Orillas Mandarache is the initiative through which young students from other Cartagenas around the world, such as those in Chile or Colombia, become involved in the program promoted by the City Council. In this way, students from these countries participate officially and vote for the first time like the rest of the students in the municipality. On this occasion, they were able to follow the meeting with the authors live, as it was broadcast through the City Council’s YouTube channel.

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The mayor also highlighted the record participation for this 2025, as in total, there are 8,000 young people, divided into 1,400 reading committees, who are part of the Mandarache (5,000 students) and Hache (3,000 students) Awards. All of them will have to vote for their favorite finalist book from March 31 to April 9.

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The three author candidates for the Hache Award have expressed their gratitude for the students’ involvement during the meeting and have highlighted the work done by the municipal reading education program: «The participating young people feel like protagonists, as they are the ones who have the decision in their hands about who will receive the award,» explained candidate Beatriz Berrocal with The Dance of the Starlings.

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In this line, Patricia Reim�ndez, author of N�a, has pointed out that «it is an award in itself to be here»; while David Nel�lo, creator of The Disconnected, has emphasized that, thanks to these initiatives, «they clearly promote young people to enjoy reading and help engage those students who may find it difficult to connect with it.»

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In addition to the meeting with the authors, the surroundings of the El Batel auditorium have been transformed into a great youth and book fair, full of activities and dynamics around literature and the finalist titles. This way, students have been able to enjoy a day where they approached reading in a fun way.

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