Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches 11 consequences of all kinds, with dimensions and a complexity that are putting our lifestyles and our abilities to the test. If we wish to resolve the challenges it poses, we must act decisively and bravely. We know the path to achieve this goal. And on that path we all have a civic undertaking. No great nation can ward off the crisis with pessimism. No great nation can emerge from it without the participation of all concerned. Let us all shoulder our responsibilities and promote a collective spirit of hope and enthusiasm and the drive to overcome odds founded on the solid bases we already have. For there have been many successes over the last few decades and many are the achievements we have attained together, not without sacrifice or abnegation, and we are entitled to feel justly proud of them. In short, we have good reason to boost our self-esteem and hopes, to know that we can once more overcome the difficulties and challenges facing us. We Spaniards must be aware that we are engaged in a common enterprise and that today, more than ever before, we have to stand united around our great national goals and, most especially, to tackle that great challenge of getting people back into employment. Recovering it at all levels and, above all, for our youngest workers, who are quite rightly asking society, as they are entitled to do, to fling wide the doors of hope. Let us also elevate our gaze and contemplate the outside world. If Europe was the solution to Spain’s long-standing problems at the start of the last century, it is essential at present —and for the future envisaged in our ambition— to advance steadfastly and with solidarity in the construction of Europe, which today faces one of the most decisive crossroads in its history. This difficult time we live in also demands that we avoid confrontation and sterile division; that we respect the sensitivities and opinions that diverge from our own so that we can later integrate them for the benefit of the general good.With a sense of responsibility, let us seek out the shared criteria regarding what is essential. Rigorous debate is not confrontation, but construction; putting forward a solution is not synonymous with systematically rejecting those of others; and reaching agreements always propitiates generosity, commitment and trust. The vigour of our democracy is far from alien to each every one of us, to our willingness to participate in public life, to our dedication at work, to the firm and lasting cohesion provided to our society by moral principles. This is also a time in which to extol our solidarity. Since the crisis began, families, social institutions (many of them honoured by our Awards) and thousands of citizens are setting an example of self-sacrifice for those in greatest need. For that reason, they deserve the sincerest gratitude of society and they allow us to feel that happy glow that comes, in the beautiful words of the poet, from so many hearts that beat not in vain, for they are moved by the ills of others. Ladies and Gentlemen, Jovellanos said that “virtue and valour must be counted among the elements contributing to social prosperity, without which all wealth is wanting, all power is weak. Without virtue or good habits,” he claimed, “no State can prosper or survive. Without these cornerstones, the most colossal power will tumble to the ground, the most brilliant glory will be dispelled like smoke.” Today we have seen here in the Campoamor Theatre how effort, humility, sacrifice and the quest for excellence have imbued the lives of our Laureates. From them we have learned to keep our minds open to the world. With them we have felt the transforming power of ideas. They have touched us with their passion for creating, their drive to innovate. These are values and ideals that we must never renounce and hold always as our inspiration. The memory of our countryman Jovellanos and the example of our Laureates illuminate this solemn event. So distant in time yet so close in a single spirit: a spirit of bravery, of achievement and modernisation. Together, them and us, united in this ceremony, now a symbol of universal culture that Spain offers to the world from Asturias with great pride. Thank you very much. “With a sense of responsibility, let us seek out the shared criteria regarding what is essential. Rigorous debate is not confrontation, but construction.”