Nearly 700 attendees gather at the Marbella Against Cancer Gala

The Spanish Association Against Cancer has once again surpassed its own record of participation, gathering nearly 700 attendees at its traditional Marbella Against Cancer Gala, which this year commemorated its 40th anniversary. If the previous edition was already a success with 620 participants and surpassing for the first time the six hundred guest mark, yesterday at Finca la Concepción, 682 people gathered, setting a milestone that will be hard to match. The drone show designed by Umiles, the main provider of this service in Spain, was the great surprise that the organization of the Gala held to celebrate the 40th anniversary and to thank the city of Marbella. This is a company founded in 2016 that now operates in more than 15 countries across Europe and Latin America in various fields such as engineering, leisure, training, or security, highlighting its different light shows with drones, having participated in the launch of the Superman movie in Spain or in competitions like the Volvo Ocean Race, among others. The design of the Marbella Gala consisted of forming different geometric shapes to end up recreating the logo of the Association with a message of thanks to the city of Marbella.

Ticket sales reached 190,000 euros in revenue, a figure that consolidates the Marbella Against Cancer Gala as the most important charity event in Spain, raising well over 250,000€ in a single night. This year's ticket sales will be added to what was obtained from the auction, the raffle, and the Zero Row, where another 10,000€ had been raised. From all these revenues, the organization expenses must be subtracted to obtain the final balance, which will almost certainly be above that obtained in previous galas. Once again, all the profits from this edition will be used to fund research projects and cover all the programs and services that the Spanish Association Against Cancer provides free of charge to patients and relatives in the city of Marbella where last year 395 patients and relatives were attended, providing them with 1,213 sessions conducted by the association's professionals.

In addition to the president of the Local Board of the Spanish Association Against Cancer in Marbella, Santiago Gómez-Villares, the association was also represented by the president of the Provincial Board in Málaga, Joaquín Morales Rubio; Dr. Antonio Rueda, president of the Technical Committee of the Association in Málaga, and the team in charge of organizing the Gala, which is composed of the vice president of Marbella, Setareh Mohregui, and the members María Matías, José Higuera, Francisco Sánchez, Tamara Bastida, and Javier Muñiz.

In his speech, Santiago Gómez-Villares highlighted the main role that volunteers play in everything the Association does and thanked the collaboration of the City Council and the companies that have collaborated. "Forty years ago, this story that brings us together today began. A story of commitment, generosity, and struggle. Tonight is not just a gala, it is a tribute to all the people who over four decades have made it possible for hope to have a place in Marbella. I deeply thank the City Council, all the collaborating companies, the artists, presenters, and of course, each of the 682 attendees who today give meaning to this meeting. Your presence tells us something very important: that in the face of cancer, Marbella does not give up. Thank you for helping us reach, once again, a record fundraising that will be transformed into real support for those in need: in psychological care, social aid, and research. Everything raised tonight goes back to the patients, back to Marbella.”

The Gala Against Cancer was also the perfect setting to present the fourth edition of The Fighter award, which is annual and aims to recognize the contribution made by individuals or institutions in normalizing the word cancer so that all patients have the same opportunities when facing the disease. In this third edition, the Marbella headquarters decided to distinguish the actor Sergio Peris-Mencheta, "because his testimony has significantly contributed to breaking stigmas, to valuing bone marrow donation, to showing the reality of the disease, and to giving hope to those going through a similar situation."

A last-minute work commitment in New Mexico, where he is filming a movie, prevented the actor from being at the Gala, but he sent a video in which he thanked for the distinction and explained that "this award excites me because I have always been a warrior in my movies. I have always been fulfilling the dream of the kid who wants to get on a horse and fight, so this award is mostly collected by the kid inside me." He then praised public healthcare, "because in the whole process that I have lived, cancer left me defenseless. It has been the doctors, the nurses, the science, the researchers the true fighters against cancer. I have seen them fight." On behalf of Sergio Peris-Mencheta, this year's The Fighter award was collected by his friend Almudena Cid, an Olympic gymnast who he also described as a fighter.

During the celebration of the Gala, the local headquarters of Marbella once again awarded recognition to those companies that during the past year have been characterized by their commitment and collaboration with the Spanish Association Against Cancer. In this edition, the following were distinguished: Puerto Banús Marbella 1970; Miguel Manzanares lawyers; Soma Architects; ARK; Montero Aramburu & Gómez-Villares Atencia; Aalto Exclusive Design; Recoletas Health Foundation; Cirumed Clinic; Marbella City Council; C de Salamanca; Caixabank; D. Marshall; Viña Salceda Wineries and Gilmar Real Estate,

Regarding the organization of the event, the gala dinner was notably collaborated by the City Council of Marbella and Finca La Concepción. The firm Derraíz, from the Gorki group, was in charge of serving the dinner, although other significant contributors to the cocktail included Viña Salceda; Victoria Beers; Takumi, Primeria Selección; Popi Hams; Moët&Chandon; Mays General or La Telera cheeses.

Charitable Figures

The 40th Gala Against Cancer in Marbella was masterfully conducted by Canal Sur presenter, Eva Ruiz, and Poty Castillo, who once again demonstrated great complicity on stage, bringing agility and good humor to the Gala. In addition to raffling the traditional treasure chest of jewels from Gómez&Molina Jewelers, along with Almudena Cid, they were in charge of presenting this year's artists who were the group Modestia Aparte, the singer Conchita, Jorge Blass and the magician Yunke, and DJ Kike Supermix to close the night of celebration.

The Marbella Gala once again gathered a large number of charitable figures, including politicians, businessmen, artists, and familiar faces of the Marbella summer. Among the first, the presence of Francisca Caracuel, vice president of the Provincial Council; Isabel Cintado, Councilor for Social Rights; and Lisandro Vieytes, Councilor for Sports and Health of the City Council of Marbella stood out. Also present was Dr. Emilio Alba, researcher, professor at UMA, and director of the Intercentres Oncology Unit at the Regional Hospital and the Virgen de la Victoria Clinical Hospital in Málaga. Among the artists and well-known faces, we could see Estefanía Luyk, Arancha de Benito, Beatriz Jarrin; Oscar Higares; Agustín Bravo, Rappel, and the journalists Jesús Álvarez, José Manuel Parada, and Nacho Abad.

Other important moments that captured the attention of the attendees at the Gala were those protagonized by the raffle and the auction. Once again, during the course of the night, the most important charity raffle in Spain took place, surpassing 300 gifts thanks to the collaboration, just for the raffle, of more than two hundred companies. In the auction, conducted by Eva Ruiz and Poty, collaboration from some of those celebrities allowed bidding, among other things, for a t-shirt of the Spanish Football Team signed by the new star Dean Huijsen; two shirts from At. Madrid signed by Koke and Julián Álvarez, with two tickets and a tour of the stadium; a Boston Celtics cap signed by Hugo González; a Kylian Mbappe signed shirt, plane tickets and two seats in his box at Santiago Bernabeu; shirts signed by Rafa Nadal and Novac Jokovic. Also auctioned was an Access Card to Puerto Banús; a painting by Pedro Peña; a two-night stay at the Nobu Hotel with dinner at El Pimpi restaurant in Marbella and another at the Puente Romano Hotel with dinner at the Sea Grill restaurant. Not to forget a dress and bag from Emporio Sirenuse; a shirt signed by José Manuel Calderón accompanied by a giant basketball personalized by the artist D. Darko and two nights of stay in a Deluxe room with full board for two people, with unlimited access to the Spa at the Zem Wellness Clinic Altea.