WELCOME NOTE

Dear colleagues and friends
On behalf of SERAU and ESER, it is an honor and also a pleasure for us and the boards of both societies to organize the 2019 SERAU-ESER Annual Scientific Meeting, to be held for the first time in Seville on the 16th and 17th of May, 2019.

The scientific section of the meeting is, without a doubt, the most relevant, though it is also important to be able to exchange experiences and personal and professional relationships with our international colleagues in an attractive, pleasant environment. In this sense, the city of Seville, its cultural attractions, streets, gastronomy, and people will definitely be a good setting to share this edition of our meeting.

We are offering a programme that will include relevant topics of current interest in the field of emergency radiology covered by national and international speakers. Workshops that will count towards the European Diploma of Emergency Radiology (EDER) will also be available. This diploma aims to be a common European qualification for radiologists and is endorsed by the European Society of Radiology (ESR).

We hope the congress will be a success and very beneficial for the professional development of all the attendees.

We look forward to seeing you in Seville.

Kind regards,

Head of the Scientific and/or Organising Committee:

Luis Cueto

Raffaella Basilico

Members of the Scientific and/or Organising Committe:

Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir. The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Seville has a municipal population of about 703,000 as of 2011, and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the fourth-largest city in Spain and the 30th most populous municipality in the European Union. Its Old Town, the third largest in Europe with an area of 4 square kilometres (2 sq mi), contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Alcázar palace complex, the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies. The Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in Europe, with summer average high temperatures of above 35 °C.

Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis, and was known as Ishbiliy after the Muslim conquest in 712. During the Muslim rule in Spain, Seville came under the jurisdiction of the Caliphate of Córdoba before becoming the independent Taifa of Seville; later it was ruled by the Muslim Almoravids and the Almohads until finally being incorporated into the Christian Kingdom of Castile under Ferdinand III in 1248. After the discovery of the Americas, Seville became one of the economic centres of the Spanish Empire as its port monopolised the trans-oceanic trade and the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) wielded its power, opening a Golden Age of arts and literature. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Coinciding with the Baroque period of European history, the 17th century in Seville represented the most brilliant flowering of the city’s culture; then began a gradual economic and demographic decline as silting in the Guadalquivir forced the trade monopoly to relocate to the nearby port of Cádiz.

The 20th century in Seville saw the tribulations of the Spanish Civil War, decisive cultural milestones such as the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and Expo ’92, and the city’s election as the capital of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.