Millau delegation visits Sagunto for 20 years of twinning: reception at the city hall
A delegation from Millau, in France, was received at Sagunto city hall on 23 October for the 20th anniversary of the twinning. Jacques Godfrain signed the Book of Honour and a Millau band closed the event.
Twenty years after Sagunto and Millau (a town in southern France) sealed their twinning, the council chamber of Sagunto city hall welcomed a large delegation from the French town on the morning of 23 October 2026. It was led by Jacques Godfrain, who was running Millau's council when the protocol was signed.
The first gesture was Godfrain's signature in Sagunto's Book of Honour. Gifts were then exchanged between the authorities of both cities, several speeches were given, and the event ended with a performance by one of Millau's leading bands.
The councillor for Twinning, Patricia Sánchez, described the two decades as a story of meetings, culture and friendship between two cities that, despite a border, feel close. She added that a twinning is not kept alive by signatures alone: it depends on the people who get involved, the associations that work, and the families who open their homes.
Sagunto's mayor, Darío Moreno, could not attend. He welcomed the visitors with a video shown in the council chamber. María José Carrera was present as deputy mayor, together with Gloria Calero, who governed Sagunto when the link began, several councillors from the Corporation and other representatives of Millau.
Godfrain noted that the two cities share chapters of their history, including Roman rule and the Crown of Aragon. In his view, beyond that common memory, they are united today by a set of twinning values that deserve to be appreciated.
Some background helps place the visit. According to elperiodic.com in March 2026, the protocol was signed on 18 March 2006, with Calero as mayor of Sagunto and Godfrain as mayor of Millau. The two cities agreed then to cooperate in the cultural, social and economic development of their communities. The same source reports that young people from both towns have stayed with host families, and that Sagunto's plenary session approved a motion for the 20th anniversary with votes in favour from PSOE, PP, Vox, Compromís per Sagunt and EU-Unides Podem, while IP abstained.
Millau's own profile confirms that the twinning with Sagunto dates from 2006. The French town also has other such links: with Louga (Senegal), signed on 9 June 1962, with Bad Salzuflen (Germany), since 1975, and with Bridlington (United Kingdom), since 1992. As for Godfrain himself, he was mayor of Millau from 19 June 1995 to 16 March 2008, and in Alain Juppé's governments, between 1995 and 1997, he served as junior minister for Cooperation.
The president of the Twinning Committee, Dominique Torres, closed the speeches with an appeal: that friendship, solidarity, exchange and curiosity stay alive between the two cities and that this spirit be passed on to younger generations. He framed it as a need in an increasingly uncertain world where, he said, individual interests weigh more than collective ones.
According to the Sagunto city council and elperiodic.com, with additional data from Wikipedia on Millau and Jacques Godfrain.