The city of Villena of Spain adopted an institutional statement according to which it officially recognizes and condemns the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Embassy in Spain has reported.

The statement, adopted by the Villena City Council, describes the 1915 events as Genocide and crime against humanity.

The condemnation of such crimes is important in terms of excluding new similar events. It is worth mentioning that before the voting the Turkish side tried to exert pressures as a result of which the representatives of the People’s and Socialist parties changed their stances at the last moment, however, this didn’t have any impact on the voting results which included Villena in the list of over three dozen Spanish cities that recognized the Armenian Genocide.

The results of voting of parties represented in the City Council are the followings: European Greens (Los Verdes Europa) – 11 votes in favor, People’s Party (PP) – 7 votes against, and the Socialist Party (PSOE) – 3 votes abstained.

Villena is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia, to the north with the province of Valencia and to the east and south with the province of Alicante. It is the capital of the comarca of the Alto Vinalopó. The municipality has an area of 345.6 km² and a population of 34,928 inhabitants as of INE 2008.