Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

5 P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches Speech XI This Principality and, in a special way, this city celebrate an event of transcendental consequences for the history of Spain: the one thousand two hundredth anniversary of the enthroning of Alfonso II The Chaste as King of Asturias. Alfonso II turned his Kingdom into an artistic focal point of the Christian world, united the aspirations of the communities of northern Spain and spread his influence to Lisbon and the Europe of Charlemagne. It is inspiring to corroborate the oldest records of our history how, from such a small, poor and harassed Kingdom, as Asturias was then, a grandiose example emerged out of the will that some people had to overcome the most arduous difficulties. Just as that great king set his sights above and beyond the mountains which both protected and isolated his kingdom, I propose to make it so that, with everyone’s help, these Awards become a universal message of concord and love for culture and freedom from the Kingdom of Spain, considering that there cannot be peace on Earth until the men and women that inhabit it are free to create and to say what they think. This year’s list of Laureates, to whom we pay homage today, is an excellent reference of the future that we want for our Awards. We acknowledge, with special emotion, the people of Puerto Rico, recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, for so resolutely defending their most precious cultural legacy by cultivating our language and making it be born and reborn each day like a transfusion for the soul. I wish to express my gratitude to their Governor for his presence here today, and I send a message charged with brotherhood to the Puerto Rican people. Our admiration also goes out to Sergey Bubka, granted the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, a legendary athlete whose constant and spectacular ability to exceed limits is a model for all the world’s youth; to Luis María Anson, recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities, a journalist of unshakeable fidelity and passionate conviction in favour of freedom and culture; to Miguel Artola, bestowed with the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, a researcher of history, whose innovative and rigorous task sheds light on the society of the past and helps us to interpret the present one. Out of the admiration for his work, his disciples have formed a school, which is the best guarantee for the continuity and dissemination of his legacy. Our homage goes out to Francisco Bolívar Zapata for generating cutting-edge scientific research while at the same time demonstrating that the passion to uncover life’s enigmas can overcome the inadequacy of means. Our congratulations to Victoria de los Ángeles, Teresa Berganza, Montserrat Caballé, Pilar Lorengar, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Alfredo Kraus, Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, for being extraordinary and unparalleled ambassadors of lyric music down the ages and of contemporary Spanish culture for the world. You have carried your voices far and wide across the country, propitiating a greater attraction for the world of music. The deepest vocation of these awards is strengthened this year with the Award for Concord, to Doctors without Borders and Medicus Mundi, and the Award for International Cooperation, to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Three organizations that carry out their work where the signs of poverty, sickness, war and repression are starkly recognizable. Their risky and tireless effort in favour of solidarity reminds us of the finest European thinking of former times, according to which we have not been born for ourselves, but rather for others. The persons that “I propose to make it so that, with everyone’s help, these Awards become a universal message of concord and love for culture and freedom from the Kingdom of Spain.” Watch video