After La Perla or Carlos Vives' devotion to Santa Marta

"On a sleeping beach beneath a sacred Sierra, the sweet afternoon dressed in a thousand golden stars. There is an Andalusian pearl on the silver sand and a blue sea that lulls with its enchanted beauty".

So begins one of the songs of the renowned Colombian singer-songwriter Carlos Vives, entitled La Perla (The Pearl) and dedicated to the city on the edge of the Caribbean and at the foot of a magical mountain range, where he was born and grew up: Santa Marta, which will soon celebrate 500 years since its foundation by the Spanish.

The oldest city in Colombia is for the artist "The Pearl of America", which is why he did not hesitate to baptize his foundation Tras La Perla. "The work of the foundation is a way of feeling that I am giving back to my land everything it has given me," he explained. "The ten years we have been going have been an opportunity to reconnect with my roots, to find a much deeper meaning to my work as an artist and to fulfill a little to those Samarian spirits that taught me to love my land, but, above all, to understand it," added the singer-songwriter.

This work, which goes beyond the city limits, has benefited communities such as those of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, who live in stilt houses surrounded by water, but, paradoxically, access to water is what they have the least. For this reason, Tras La Perla set itself the task of promoting a pilot project to bring them water and basic sanitation.

The artist's imprint is also in the colorful and popular Pescaíto neighborhood of Santa Marta, where his foundation built 'La casa de los pescaítos', a toy library for the benefit of more than 400 children, and 'La casa de la danza', where a dozen groups of children and women meet to dance.

But the most important building, in the words of Isabel Vásquez, executive director of Tras La Perla, has been that of trust. "We have cemented it by leading processes, articulating efforts with different entities and showing concrete results that last," Vásquez explained.

The Ciénaga Grande, Pescaíto and also the Sierra Nevada are "neuralgic points of this territory in which, by touching them, as if it were acupuncture, the environment heals better," added the director. The role of the foundation is to connect these places with each other and, in turn, Santa Marta with the world.

Changing lives

Carlos Vives is an ambassador for his territory. Everywhere he goes with his songs and stories he speaks of his city. While Santa Marta's problems are great, the artist believes that Tras La Perla's efforts are changing lives. "It's a very big emotion, a hope. We feel that this work can inspire new citizens to join in and be part of the solution," he said.

"Music has given us recognition and we wanted to put that to the service of our community. Music has taught me to understand our land and our people and, at the same time, has given me the opportunity to be able to work for them. That is the greatest legacy," said the singer-songwriter.

Carlos has the conviction that dreams are in the place of origin; that is why he has refused to live in another territory. "May those changes make us say in the future, hopefully not too far away, that the one who stays is the one who succeeds, not the one who leaves," he concluded.

'The city of origin'.

To commemorate Santa Marta's 500th anniversary, Tras La Perla created the brand 'The city of origin', which was adopted by the city's Mayor's Office. In addition, they planned an agenda with different cultural activities throughout the year to raise awareness of Santa Marta's history.

Vives personally invited the King of Spain, Felipe VI, to the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Santa Marta, to be held on July 29, 2025. The king cannot come, but the Spanish Navy training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano will make a stop in Colombia and his daughter Leonor, Princess of Asturias and heir to the throne, will be on board, who will have a cultural meeting with a group of indigenous women.

HAND IN HAND WITH CAF

In the search for companies and organizations that join the work for Santa Marta, the Tras La Perla Foundation found a strategic ally: CAF -development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean-.

"We became their trusted peer because we are in the city all the time. We know each other's work and capacity to execute; they as a bank and we as an operating foundation," explained Isabel Vásquez.

CAF is making direct loans to the city, and the foundation acts as a companion and overseer so that things are done well and work. "CAF is opening up many opportunities for Santa Marta," said Vásquez.