Albay prepares for visit of Spain's Queen Sofia

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Albay will be one of only two provinces that Queen Sofia of Spain will visit during her royal trip to the Philippines. The other is Zamboanga.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said Albayanons have long been awaiting Queen Sofia’s one-day visit to thank her for financing various development programs in the province, focused on achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and climate change adaptation (CCA).

Salceda said Spain’s support for Albay has not only saved thousands of lives during disasters but has also helped raised its campaign on DRR and CCA to the international level.

Among Spain’s most significant donations to Albay is a water-purifying machine that has helped provide potable water not only to local folk but also those stricken by calamities in other provinces.

In Albay, the Queen will visit the Climate Change Academy at the Bicol University, the Camalig evacuation center, the Josefina B. Duran Memorial Hospital where she will inaugurate the Albay Dialysis Center, and the Ligao evacuation center, which are funded either wholly or partly by the Spanish government through the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo or the Spanish International Cooperation Agency for Development.