With almost British punctuality, six minutes after 6:30 p.m. this Friday afternoon, the kings of Spain and their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, crossed the blue carpet of the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo. In this way, the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony began, which is held every year in the third week of October in the Asturian capital. The national anthem performed by the Ciudad de Oviedo bagpipe band preceded the entry of the winners into a theater eager to hear them.
Two days ago he gave the surprise and announced that he could be in Oviedo to collect the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, since initially, due to a family problem that had arisen, he had announced that he would not be able to attend.
The French-Iranian cartoonist and filmmaker, Marjane Satrapi, considered by the jury that awarded her the award “an essential voice for the defense of human rights and freedom”, was one of the winners who was able to speak at the ceremony held this year. Friday afternoon at the Campoamor Theater.
Words with which Satrapi wanted to vindicate the importance of education in humanism, ethics, kindness, civility and compassion as a sine qua non condition for living with dignity, without suffering humiliation due to sex, ethnicity or color. The Franco-Iranian artist ended her speech with a poem by Saari, a great Iranian poet of the 13th century
I am a man in favor of life. I prefer roads to borders, reason to force and instinct to civility. I am a social and rational animal that needs man beyond the tribe. I believe in tolerance. I believe in respect for the rights of others and dialogue as the only way to resolve issues fairly.
This is how Joan Manuel Serrat defined himself during his speech, with a desire, “to leave the memory of a good man.” As if it were one of his compositions, the Catalan singer-songwriter confessed to being a believer in freedom, justice and democracy, “values that either go hand in hand or they don’t.” Perhaps for this reason, Serrat recognizes that he does not like the world in which we live, hostile, contaminated and unsupportive, where moral and democratic values have been replaced by the greed of the market, where everything has a price.
And since what he dedicates himself to is singing, as he explained, Serrat returned to the stage for a few minutes, to the surprise of everyone present, and performed ‘Those little things’, accompanied only by a violinist and bringing everyone to their feet. the theater
The poet Ana Blandiana paraphrased Miguel de Unamuno, making her own the phrase “Spain hurts!”, since the writer and philosopher from Salamanca had, as she herself recognized, great importance in her intellectual and spiritual formation.
Blandiana wanted to use the anguish expressed by Unamuno in the face of the destruction of his country as a point of support in the current universe, in which nations blur in the face of ideologies, recognizing that “Spain also hurts me, Romania hurts me, it hurts me the world.”
The Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, Michael Ignatieff, recognized how much men and women have to fight to be free, in a world “saturated with manipulation and lies.” Still, “being able to call ourselves free and truly deserve it is the prize that matters most in life,” he concluded.
The athlete Carolina Marín; the Magnum Photos Agency, who, camera in hand, were photographed and photographers at the same time; the Organization of Ibero-American States; and the parents of Ozempic, the scientists Drucker, Habener, Holst and Mojsov, complete the list of winners in a ceremony that, like every year, is presided over by the kings of Spain, accompanied by their daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Infanta Sofia.
During her speech, the Princess of Asturias reviewed the merits of each of the award winners, whom she thanked for their contributions as “extraordinary” people.
Recognition of the activism of Blandiana and Satrapi, the lyrics of Serrat’s songs, the exemplary nature of Carolina Marín, the bold look of Magnum in times of noise and special emphasis on a phrase by Ignatieff about those who use democracy to destroy it. Paraphrasing Serrat, “today can be a great day, tomorrow too,” the Princess of Asturias concluded her speech.
For his part, King Felipe VI has warned of the risks of dehumanization that the world faces, against which there is no better antidote than putting the person at the center of any speech or action. He has also warned of the serious risks of polarization, of the denial of others for their convictions or beliefs, for what they think, pray or vote differently.
He has also referred to the “atrocious” conflicts and systematic violations of human rights, which devastate the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere, and has called for peace and security to be compatible again. and aimed at coexistence or, at least, coexistence.
King Felipe also announced that, after more than four decades presiding over these awards, two of them with Queen Letizia, he will pass the baton to his daughter, Princess Leonor, who will preside over the Princess of Asturias Awards starting with the edition of the next year.
The Ciudad de Oviedo bagpipe band performing the anthem of Asturias put the final touch on the 2024 awards, with the 2025 awards being called, for the first time by Princess Leonor.
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