In the city of Salamanca, on April 10, 2024,
The congress members, participants, and adherents to the commemorative event held today in honor of the figure of Don Santiago Ramón y Cajal, under the auspices of the University as Alma Mater, formulate the following DECLARATION:
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TO RECOGNIZE his greatness as a person: honest, generous, a family man, cultured and a practitioner of art and sport, committed, a defender of the vulnerable, a patriot, and an advocate for education at all levels.
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TO ADMIRE his stature as a researcher, with the ability to generate bold ideas, think big with scientific rigor, and act as a catalyst for the science of his time and an example of commitment to innovative research.
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TO ACKNOWLEDGE the fruitful harvest of inventions, investigations, and reflections, particularly his discoveries about the nervous system, which made him worthy of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1906 — a legacy accompanied by the forging of an important group of direct and indirect disciples, which marked the beginning of the Spanish Neurohistological School and subsequent generations, driving forward his own discipline and related fields.
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TO URGE public authorities to facilitate the dissemination of his figure and legacy, which elevated the standing of Spain as a research nation, inspired vocations, and promoted institutions of fruitful results that extend to the present day.
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TO RECALL that, as he taught through both word and deed, research is the best public investment, one that deserves community support, attention, funding, and a pursuit of excellence.
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TO NOTE the appropriateness of establishing a Science holiday in Spain, to be called Cajal and Science Day (“Dia de Cajal y de la Ciencia”), on October 17, the anniversary of his death, and to stress the importance of establishing a Cajal Museum that serves as a reference for his legacy and career. A Museum that fuses Science and Art, as Cajal himself did, and that attracts young people to train new generations of researchers.
