Nine months later, the time had come in Sagunto, Spain, where the ground-breaking ceremony for another VW gigafactory took place.

But VW and its subsidiary PowerCo were not the only ones to make contact with the Spanish town of Sagunto. In January last year, the former Prime Minister of the Valencia region, Ximo Puig, accompanied by the Mayor of Sagunto, Dario Morena Lega, visited the PowerCo plant in Salzgitter and also met with Mayor Frank Klingebiel for initial contacts and an intensive round of talks.

Even at this first meeting, there was a lively exchange; it quickly became clear that Sagunto and Salzgitter have much more in common than the fact that both cities stand for the important economic transformation process towards climate-neutral industrial production. A return visit to Sagunto followed in May of this year at the invitation of Mayor Dario Morena Lega.

Mayor Frank Klingebiel traveled to Sagunto for a short visit with the parliamentary group chairmen Frank Miska (SPD) and Thomas Huppertz (CDU), the head of the department for strategic planning and communication Simone Kessner and the town twinning officer Rüdiger Skopek.

"The last time Salzgitter signed a twinning agreement was 36 years ago and it means a lot to me personally to see whether we can enter into another one with the Spanish city of Sagunto, especially in these fragile times with so many global and social crises! I firmly believe that town twinning can open doors and that the united gathering of democrats under such important and fundamental values as peace, democracy, human dignity and freedom is of crucial importance for our future."

An assessment shared by the mayor of the town of Sagunto, which has 70,000 inhabitants. After the official reception in the town hall, the meeting immediately moved on to the working session. The areas in which the two cities could work together in the future were discussed in detail. Economic development will continue to play an important role, but the topics of "social affairs, culture, sport and above all education" also need to be addressed; and not just by the administrations and institutions, but gradually also by the citizens of both cities. The very first step has now been taken and a declaration of intent has been signed. Both city leaders have agreed to present the draft of the partnership protocol to the respective political bodies and to ratify it once the relevant resolutions have been passed.

After the reception in the town hall, a visit to the construction site for the VW PowerCo gigafactory was on the agenda. Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel: "Just like Salzgitter, Sagunto also stands for the significant economic transformation process, but there are links not only in the present, but also in the recent past. At the beginning of the 20th century, agriculture, animal husbandry, viticulture and fishing became less and less important in Sagunto; heavy industry and trade were now the major economic factors. The steel industry in particular played a major role in Sagunto until 1984, as evidenced by the "old" blast furnace and an industrial museum."

However, unlike Salzgitter, the steel industry did not settle in Sagunto because of the mineral resources; rather, its good geographical location and transport infrastructure made Sagunto a particularly interesting location for this industry.

Both towns have always been particularly shaped by economic development, but they also have much more to offer in the way of sightseeing and important historical testimonies. Sagunto can also look back on a long history, and the "old" part of the city is home to numerous relics of bygone eras, with the Andalusian fortress that proudly towers over this part of the city being particularly impressive.

"We got to know the past, present and future in Sagunto and much of it reminded us very much of what our home town of Salzgitter is all about," said Klingebiel, "The first steps towards initiating a town twinning have been taken, now more should follow and ultimately this must then be filled with life so that the formal town twinning develops into a lively exchange and, in the best case, new friendships that stand for peace, freedom and democracy in Europe."