Turespaña and PHotoEspaña present España. Portrait of a country

• The project aims to reflect a vision of contemporary Spain and its rich cultural, social, geographical, natural, monumental and artistic diversity which can be enjoyed by traveling throughout the country.

• The project includes a photography competition which will be open until 16 October 2022. The legal bases can be found on the website www.phe.es

• A jury of experts will choose 19 winning photographs, one for each Autonomous Region and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which will receive a cash prize.

• In addition to the open competition, great contemporary Spanish photographers will also participate in this initiative.

• The project includes the publication of a book that will bring together the projects of professional photographers and the winning images from the competition.

The director of the Spanish Tourism Institute (Turespaña), Miguel Sanz, and the director of PHotoESPAÑA, Claude Bussac, presented España. Portrait of a country, a project that includes a photography competition and the publication of a book with the best images, which will be presented at FITUR 2023. Photographers Paula Antaand Eduardo Nave attended the presentation of the project.

España. Portrait of a country is a project that aims to celebrate the Spain of the 21st century through a current and contemporary photographic portrait. As Claude Bussac pointed out: “The spirit of PHotoESPAÑA is not only to show the work of the great masters of photography, but also to promote this art among citizens, through public competitions. In this case, we are especially excited to join forces with Turespaña to invite citizens to build this mosaic of images of contemporary Spain”.

Miguel Sanz described the project as "a valuable portrait of current Spain in images that helps make visible surprising places which are less known by the international visitor, that sheds light on cultural and natural resources and that offers an updated view of our country. We are one of the best known destinations in the world, especially for our beaches, but there are still incredible places, traditions and flavours to discover. After a pandemic like the one we had, we want to tell the world that they deserve to return to Spain and rediscover our country”.

A more sustainable Spain committed to the environment

In 1987 the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Tourism and Communications launched A day in the history of Spain, an initiative to portray the incipient modernity of a country in the process of transformation. Since then, Spain has undergone many changes and faced important challenges, the most recent being a global pandemic that put not only our country, but the entire world, on hold. España. Portrait of a countrywants to become the best letter of introduction for the Spain of today: more sustainable, committed to the environment and, above all, as a country that has recovered its most open and welcoming essence.

19 winning photographs

The project will be developed in several phases. It starts with a photography competition open to all citizens, both residents in Spain, and anyone who visits us from other countries. Everyone is called to share the images that best reflect the different corners of our country, the experiences it offers and, ultimately, its essence.

Instagram will be the repository for this competition, which will be open until 16 October. The bases are available on the website www.phe.es. In order to participate in the competition participants must upload the images using the hashtag #EspañaRetratodeunPaís, as well as follow and mention the accounts @spain and @photoespana_

Among all the submitted images, 19 winners will be chosen, one for each Autonomous Region and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and each winner will get a cash prize. Every week the PHotoESPAÑA website will have a virtual gallery displaying the best images.

Participation of important Spanish photographers

Along with amateur photographers, this initiative will also include the participation of the main contemporary Spanish photographers. Authors such as Cristina García Rodero, Alberto García-Alix, Eduardo Nave, Ana Amado, Miguel Trillo and Paula Anta, among others, will also offer their particular and intimate vision of our country.

As the culmination of the project, at the beginning of 2023, a book will be presented at FITUR, edited by La Fábrica, in which the 19 images selected from the public competition will be displayed together with the photographs by the professional authors. Thus, together, professional photographers of international projection and amateurs will become ambassadors abroad of the rich heritage of our country.

More info: helsinki@tourspain.es