Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches 9 the theories of communicative action and what might be termed the pathologies of our time. Influenced by his generation’s experiences of the war and the Nazi regime, he has paid special attention to political theory and reflection, particularly democracy and its variations, as well as to the relationship between legislation and power. Besides being a theoretician, Jurgen Habermas has left his mark as an intellectual, in the best tradition of the great men of European language and literature, playing a crucial role in key political debates, on the likes of Europeanism and the construction of Europe, whenever his criteria or his conscience have called for such a response. He has shown himself to be a keen and sometimes critical observer of the exercise of power and its activities, unswervingly seeking to defend the law, reason and morality. Human rights would be of little use if we did not also protect the rights of Nature in which those same rights are exercised and enjoyed, or if we did not support every life form to be found on our planet. This is the reason behind the Award for Technical and Scientific Research being granted to the British ethologist Jane Goodall. Her love for observing and studying animal behaviour —particularly that of chimpanzees— has its origin in a different kind of love: the love for books that her mother instilled in her as a child, providing her with a wide range of stimuli so that through sheer hard work and a stroke of luck she could dedicate her life to what she most loved, animal life. The decisive opportunity came along when at the age of twenty-three she first travelled to Africa. She has lived engrossed in the study of the life of chimpanzees for over forty years since then, especially the chimps at the Gombe StreamReserve, in Tanzania—although she has also concerned herself with Burundi, Sierra Leone and Gambia— often working in the most adverse of conditions. The fruits of her many years of impassioned work have been recognized by numerous awards and distinctions, including twenty honorary degrees. The study of primate behaviour has led Jane Goodall —as well as the school of researchers she has trained and the Institute that bears her name— to levels of scientific knowledge that embrace not only the behaviour of the human species, but also of Nature as a whole, something she has gone to great lengths to conserve and protect. Furthermore, she has worked tirelessly with the young to foster their love, compassion and respect towards all forms of life and the environment in which they flourish, all too often threatened by man’s ignorance and avarice. For all these reasons, and siding with her in her marvellous dedication, its seems the right moment for us to draw attention to the serious consequences of the environmental change our planet is undergoing, and its causes, which give rise to concern at all levels, regardless of race, people or borders. Mankind is facing one of the greatest challenges it has ever faced during its wondrous, exceptional adventure on the planet, for only concerted effort by everybody for everybody, only global solutions, can come to terms with this ever more serious danger. The task must be undertaken with the same hope, optimism and faith in mankind as shown by Jane Goodall, who believes that there are a growing number of us committed to joining our hands and our hearts in a joint effort to make our world a better place. This year in Spain, on our Atlantic coast and in the Bay of Biscay, we have witnessed how thousands of volunteers spontaneously and generously provided us all with an example of such an admirable attitude, of which we are proud and fully supportive. The Award for Sports has gone to the Tour de France, the world’s leading cycle race, now celebrating its centenary this year. Once again, individual effort to the point of self-sacrifice and teamwork amongst sportsmen, coupled with excellent organization, go hand in hand to produce one of the competitions that is most enthusiastically followed and admired throughout the world. The historically acclaimed Tour de France has had an enormous social impact, particularly for those of us from Spain, for it represented a window on Europe, a point of contact with other peoples, with another land, and with other cultures during difficult years. The importance that the Tour has had for our country is due to a large extent to the great Spanish cyclists that have taken part in it.