MADRID (AFP) — Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia presided Sunday over the closing ceremony of the 2008 World Expo in Zaragoza, which organisers said was visited by nearly six million people over three months.
Fireworks lit up the night sky over the 25-hectare (62-acre) grounds of the fair, whose theme was "Water and Sustainable Development", after the king officially declared the event closed.
Earlier the former Spanish head of UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, read out a so-called "Zaragoza Charter" containing recommendations regarding the proper use of water that were made by 2,800 experts over the course of the event.
They included the creation of a global water agency which would provide help and advice on water management and promote public-private alliances on water and sanitation projects.
"Creating a global water agency would help guarantee secure access and the proper use of water," he said.
The charter called on governments to do more to preserve ecosystems, to make more use of desalinisation techniques and to bring down the cost of recycling water.
Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, welcoming success of the Expo, vowed to implement the charter's recommendations.
A climate change research institute, the creation of which was announced by the government on Friday, will be based at what was Spain's pavilion at the Expo, he added.
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were among the dignitaries who travelled to the eastern Spanish city to attend the Expo.
They were able to tour some 140 pavilions housing exhibits from dozens of countries including China, Germany, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, as well others representing regions and businesses.
Visitors could also take in one of Europe's largest freshwater aquariums; a 76-metre (250-foot) high glass "Water Tower" shaped like a drop of water and a two-story bridge pavilion that provides a link to the south of Zaragoza.
The venue's 35,000-seat concert venue hosted concerts by Bob Dylan, Canadian singer Alanis Morissette and Latin music diva Gloria Estefan.
Local officials invested 800 million euros (1.1 billion US dollars), 70 percent of which came from the Spanish government, to prepare the grounds and stage the 2008 World Expo.
Millions more in private and public funds were invested on infrastructure such as a new high-speed rail link to Barcelona and an airport expansion to prepare the city of 700,000 people -- Spain's fifth-largest -- for the event.
Unlike in the southern city of Seville where the site of Expo 1992 has been abandoned, Zaragoza plans to transform the grounds of its fair into one of Europe's most modern business parks.
The education ministry and a local university will take over other buildings.
Reconstruction work on the grounds is set to begin in early 2009 and completed by the end of the following year.
The next World Expo will be held in 2010 in Shanghai, China between May 1 and October 31. Its theme will be "Better City -- Better Life".
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