European capital of culture
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25 January 20124El País Madrid
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Basque country
Saint Sebastian, capital of peace and culture
29 June 2011PresseuropEl Correo -
Heritage
Istanbul, all a facade
27 July 20101Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
A town in Europe
The Ruhr – from coal to culture
5 March 2010Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Hungary
A kvetch about Pécs
22 January 2010Hírszerzö Budapest -
Culture
Cities on the edge stand tall
7 January 20102Le Monde Paris -
18 June 2009Eesti Päevaleht Tallinn
A former textile industry boom town, Guimarães is using its 2012 European Capital of Culture status to resurface after over twenty years in the economic doldrums. 
For years the Turkish government has been deliberately gutting Istanbul’s old town rather than restoring it, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung. UNESCO now intends to strike Istanbul off the World Cultural Heritage list, seeing as politicians have done nothing but stymie efforts to preserve its historic monuments. 
The Ruhr region has seen the rise and fall of the coal industry in the space of 170 years. Now, during its stint as 2010 European Capital of Culture, it aims to complete its modernisation process. But its cities are running out of funds, reports Der Spiegel. 
The Hungarian city of Pécs, this year’s European Capital of Culture along with Istanbul and Essen, is having a hard time getting out from under Budapest’s long shadow. Is the country incapable of staging an event worthy of Europe’s interest? wonders the Hungarian news portal Hírszerzö. 
Unloved and unrepentant: Europe's rebellious port cities have always been marked by a strong sense of their own identity. In 2006 six of them grouped together to form "Cities on the edge," a cultural network that celebrates pride in local differences. 
In 2011, Tallinn becomes European capital of culture. Without money and above all without any ideas, all the Estonian capital has been doing is to keep a jealous on fellow Baltic capital Vilnius, in Lithuania, which has organised this event successfully.