  About 3,500 planetary nebulae (PNe) are currently known in the Milky Way,
which shows a great discrepancy with the expected number for these objects,
regardless of the reference used, $33-59 \times 10^{3}$. The same holds for
symbiotic stars (SySts) as well, since the expected number in the Galaxy
($3-400 \times 10^{3}$) differs considerably from the amount of known ones
(approximately 300). Studies on PNe and SySts are of great importance because
they provide vital clues to the understanding of the late-stage of stellar
evolution for low-to-intermediate mass stars. In addition, these classes of
objects play a large role in the chemical evolution of the Galaxy through the
ejection of their material to the interstellar medium (ISM), enriching it with
the various chemical elements produced throughout their evolution. This project
aims to contribute to the detection of new PNe and SySts in the Galaxy, thus
decreasing the discrepancy between the observed and theoretical populations.
Using simultaneously the third data release from the optical survey VPHAS+ (The
VST Photometric H$\alpha$ Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge),
which maps the southern hemisphere of the Galaxy's plane with the $r$, $i$, and
H{$\alpha$} filters, and the IR colors of the catalog AllWISE (Wide-field
Infrared Survey Explorer + The Two Micron All Sky Survey), we end up with a
number of PN and SySt candidates. Subsequently, we confirm the nature of these
objects through spectroscopic observations at the SOAR telescope (Southern
Astrophysical Research Telescope). So far, we have selected PN candidates and
performed the spectroscopic follow-up of 8 of them. In this presentation we
show the project's preliminary results, which consist of the discovery of at
least one new planetary nebula, and other emission-line sources still to be
confirmed either as PN or SySt.
