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The 2009 Reconquest celebrations are scheduled to start in January, 2009, with the launch of the website www.reconquistadevigo.com and the inauguration of an exhibition "Reconquest 1809-2009" in the Castrelos Museum during the month of March, as announced on Wednesday by the Deputy Mayor, Mr. Santiago Domínguez. The program consists of a wide range of activities that include an international symposium with renowned participants, street theatre in the various quarters of the city and two didactic units directed towards school children.

Mr. Santiago Domínguez pointed out that the Deputy Mayor’s Office and the Department of Culture have over the past months been working on the 2009 Reconquest commemoration program and promised that it would be very special. The Deputy Mayor said "we are in a position today to announce several events that have already been decided and these will be complemented by more cultural and sports activities over the course of the year."
He first and foremost emphasized the launch of the website www.reconquistadevigo.com, which would help to orient the public on the historic context in which the events took place and also to provide details on the planned activities for the celebrations. The website shall contain news, schedule of events, multimedia links, contacts and schedule of the Napoleonic congress amongst other program aspects and such information will be published in Galician, Spanish, English and French.
The Deputy Mayor added "the second important milestone of this program refers to the Reconquest exhibition 1809-2009 which will be held at the Castrelos Museum from the 6th to the 31st of March". On the same subject, Mr. Santiago Domínguez stressed that this exhibition would contain a collection that was "quite ambitious and would be held in the most important museum of the city". He further explained that to date there was confirmation of cession of works from the National Historic Archive, the Madrid Naval Museum, the A Coruña Regional Military Museum and the Vigo-Tui Diocesan Museum. Some such elements would be uniforms and arms of the warring armies, flags of the Vigo regiments during the Reconquest, virtual recreations of the actual battle and of Vigo dating back to 200 years, an audiovisual display where visitors can learn about the history of the Reconquest in detail, documents -many of which have not been published, and which a group of documentary makers have tracked down from the Military Historic Archive, the Military Museum, the French National Library and the British Library, recreation of daily life in Vigo at the time and a homage to all Reconquest celebrations organised by the residents of the Old Quarters of Vigo up to now.
Another event that is part of the program is the International Symposium on the Reconquest, which will be held on the 12th and 13th of March, at the Caixanova Social Centre and this will bring together experts on the Napoleonic era. The Deputy Mayor indicated participation confirmation from Michael Broers (University of Oxford), Charles Esdaile (University of Liverpool), Alicia Laspra (University of Oviedo), Nuno Leemos Pires (Portuguese historian), Jean René Aymes (University of La Sorbonne-Paris), Michael Rapport (University of Stirling-Scotland) and Xosé Ramón Barreiro (University of Santiago). He also mentioned that an invitation was sent to a descendant of Napoleon (grand nephew), Charles Bonaparte, President of the European Federation of Napoleonic Cities.
Mr. Santiago Domínguez said that two didactic units were being prepared for primary and secondary schools whose objective was to introduce such celebrations to the schooling population as an entertainment. Thus, "Os Bolechas" – TV cartoon characters, would be the protagonists of the didactic unit, which would be geared towards the smallest kids, who can participate in the creativity contest and win schooling material. The other unit, directed towards adolescent boys and girls of secondary schools, includes a visit to the exhibition and a competition on the Reconquest celebration, where the prize will be a trip to countries that are directly involved in this historic event.
The program "Reconquest on the Streets" is yet another salient aspect of this commemoration event. Mr. Santiago Domínguez mentioned that for the first time ever, the representation of the arrival of the French to Vigo would be held on the 31st of January. He further added that the celebrations of the program will be spread to other points in the city like Bouzas, the Avenues (opposite the Nautical Club), Calvario, Teis, Plaza de la Independencia, and Plaza de la Constitución.
Besides the graphic design competition to create the Reconquest day poster, the Deputy Mayor stated that there were other activities programmed in parallel with the dissemination activities. Along this line, there was mention of work being carried out with several specialised magazines, the creation of a video channel in You Tube and promotion of the city and the Reconquest celebration at the FITUR Tourism Fair in Madrid.
The Deputy Mayor expressly thanked the collaboration of the Resident’s Association from the Old Quarters of Vigo, whose president Mr. Henrique Macías also participated in the presentation of the 2009 Reconquest celebration acts. The president of this organisation thanked the Deputy Mayor’s office “for its trust in the association right from day one for preparing the global commemoration program”. Mr. Macías further added that the application period for participation in the contest for the poster related to the dissemination program had started that day, and that the winner would receive a prize of 1,000 Euros but that there would also be two consolation prizes of 500 Euros each. He also indicated that the posters must be presented in the office of the Resident’s Association of the Old Quarters of Vigo (calle Oliva nº 12 bajo) and that the competition rules could be viewed at the same place as well as on the website www.avcascovello.com.