Gran Via opened its one hundred per cent commercialized installations
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On the 31st of May, the Gran Vía de Vigo Shopping Centre celebrating its official opening to the tune of music, dancing and parades. Ángel Rodríguez got the event under way by saying a few words of thanks to the city and to all those who had participated in the project. Then Corina Porro, the Mayor of Vigo, thanked the company for the confidence it had shown it had in the city.
After these short speeches, Ángel Rodríguez, Wil van der Have, Rafael Arias Salgado, chairman of Carrefour Group and Corina Porro led the delegation on a tour around the shopping centre. Once the tour was over, all those present were invited to an exquisite cocktail party.
A marine spectacle
After a beautiful and very Spanish dance, the marine motifs present in the architecture of the shopping centre were seen to play a central role in the spectacle put on by the catalán theatre group, Artristas. Actors and dancers paraded boats and fish around the three floors of the Gran Via de Vigo shopping centre, while the guests chatted and walked around the installations.
The Gran Via de Vigo opening was not only restricted to the area known as "Finca do Conde". The whole city of Vigo witnessed the event thanks to five marquees situated in strategic points around the city. In Castelos Park, in Samil, Montero Ríos, Plaza da Miñoca and Plazo do Rei, the festivities came to the attention of the children. Each marquee was characterized by a distinguishing element or theme. For example, in one of them the music was performed by "Turre’s Band", in another there was a spectacle involving pirates, a third featured magic, another skating, and the fifth included juggling, people on stilts and acrobats. Coloured balloons were released in all the marquees, representing the corporate colours of the shopping centre.
After the party, on the 1st of June, Gran Via de Vigo opened its doors to the people of Vigo, all 150 units that include leisure, restaurant and shop facilities, plus three levels of underground parking, as well as another parking level at the top.
The first day of life for the centre proved to be a great success, as more than 60.000 people showed up in order to see the new shops, services and facilities provided by the shopping centre, the biggest in Galicia.