Carmen Linares and María Pagés 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts

Statement by Carmen Linares on being granted the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts

"Today has been a big day for me due to the distinction of the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts and I am very happy for myself and for flamenco art, in capital letters, which is what I love most and to which I have devoted my life. I have given my life to this art, but it is in fact giving it back to me. I have been lucky, it has been the luck of my life, to find flamenco music, which for me is one of the best musical genres in the world, and to be able to dedicate myself to this profession and offer everything I feel inside me. Thank you so very much. I am very, very happy. Thank you all and thank you for this Award.”

Carmen Linares
Madrid, 5th May 2022

Statement by María Pagés on being granted the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts

"I am truly moved. It seems to me that this year’s Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts is really rounded-off. And it is so for many reasons. Firstly, it brings Carmen and I together in the same destination; we have been friends and fellow travellers for many years now and our memories know what it means to be professionals in the field of culture. This allows us to share emotions, joy and the same responsibility we have always felt regarding our personal and collective heritage. But, above all, it unites us in our profound gratitude for the Princess of Asturias Award, which, by recognizing us as creative artists, situates the art of flamenco, one of the paradigms of modernity that best defines us as a country, as what it is: a wonderful expression of our cultural identity, bound to the land, but touched by the grace of universality.”

María Pagés
Madrid, 5th May 2022