Thiruvananthapuram, July 28 - Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said Tuesday that a delegation from Barcelona would soon arrive here for talks on making the Spanish city and the Kerala capital twin cities.

Tharoor told reporters here that he has already discussed the proposal with the mayor of Barcelona, who has agreed to send two separate delegations to begin exploratory talks with the mayor of Thiruvananthapuram.

'They will arrive in two batches, with the first one arriving shortly. The whole purpose of this exercise is to see if we can take forward the proposal of the project of twinning the cities of Barcelona and Thiruvananthapuram, which more or less have the same profile,' he said.

Tharoor also said next year, a week long Barcelona festival would be held here and would include films, dance, music, and perhaps even a football team that would arrive from Barcelona.

'The Spanish embassy has already agreed to conduct the week-long festival and the entire expenses would be borne by them,' said Tharoor.