The European Parliament building in Brussels was the venue chosen to commemorate, on Tuesday 5 May, the 500th anniversary of the School of Salamanca, an intellectual movement that emerged in the 16th century within the University of Salamanca. As part of its commitment to promoting culture and education, Unicaja has taken part in the celebrations for this anniversary, which aims to strengthen the international standing of the School as one of the key milestones in the history of Western thought and a benchmark for European legal, economic and political knowledge.
To commemorate the legacy of this cultural movement, the presidential hall of the community institution hosted a special session, organised by Alumni-USAL, the Association of Former Students and Friends of the University of Salamanca, and the School of Salamanca Chair of Business Innovation, which brought together institutional and academic representatives to discuss this citizen-led and university-based initiative of international scope.
Representing Unicaja was the bank’s head of Stakeholder Relations and Protocol for the Central and Northern Regions, María Ramos, who also took part in a round-table discussion, alongside the director general of the European Commission’s Legal Service, Alberto de Gregorio; the president of the Salamanca Chamber of Commerce, Alberto Díaz; and the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Salamanca (USAL), María Ángeles Guervós.
The bank’s support reflects its firm commitment to contributing to the promotion of academic and cultural activities within the areas where it operates and to strengthening the professional and institutional fabric. It also forms part of the long-standing collaboration it maintains with the University of Salamanca, with whom it has been promoting, since 2023, the Salamanca School Chair in Business Innovation, together with the city’s Chamber of Commerce.
A cultural movement with a global dimension
The School of Salamanca was a movement that revitalised scholarship, transforming theology, law, economics and moral philosophy, and laying the foundations for modern concepts that inspire our contemporary democracies, such as human rights, international law and freedom of conscience.
Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto and Francisco de Suárez were among the leading figures of this movement, which placed Salamanca at the epicentre of the global debate on justice, human dignity and political organisation, both in Europe and worldwide.
