2026 PRINCESS OF ASTURIAS AWARDS

ROLE MODELS FOR A WORLD IN TRANSFORMATION

At a time when societies are facing profound transformations and challenges of global scope, the 2026 Princess of Asturias Awards once again highlight the value of those careers and track records that contribute to collective progress in a sustained and exemplary way. Via their eight different categories, the Awards recognize contributions from diverse fields and contexts, as well as providing role models that inspire new ways of approaching science, culture and cooperation.

The career of American singer and writer Patti Smith has been recognized with the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts for her impetuous creativity which links rock, symbolist poetry and the spirit of the counterculture. Over decades, her body of work has forged its own language that transcends disciplines and borders, projecting a profoundly poetic view of life and a message of hope.

The Award for Communication and Humanities has gone to the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. Employing a painstaking and highly imaginative artisanal process, the studio’s work has given rise to universal stories of great sensitivity and humanistic depth. Their films celebrate the beauty of the everyday and make moments of silence and contemplation an essential part of their narratives.

The Award for Technical and Scientific Research has been granted to chemists David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian, along with biophysicist Pascal Mayer, in recognition of the development of DNA sequencing technologies that now constitute fundamental tools in both research and clinical practice. These advances have radically transformed genetic analysis, significantly reducing the time and cost of the processes, giving rise to new applications and opening the door to approaches such as personalized medicine.

In the field of International Cooperation, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located beneath the Arctic soil in Norway, stands as an eloquent example of global collaboration aimed at safeguarding the genetic diversity of crops and protecting resources essential to the planet’s food security.

The Award for Social Sciences has gone to British historian, journalist and essayist Timothy Garton Ash, whose career combines intellectual rigour and personal testimony in interpreting some of the most decisive moments in contemporary Europe. His work constitutes a lucid defence of democratic values and the European project, while providing keys to understanding the present and facing the future with a reflexive, hopeful outlook.

The Award for Sports bestowed on Argentinian footballer Leo Messi recognizes a career characterized by excellence and commitment. Beyond his achievements on the field, his involvement in solidarity initiatives aimed at improving access to education and health for the most disadvantaged likewise stands out.

In the field of Literature, the Jury has distinguished British writer Julian Barnes, an extraordinary storyteller and essayist who combines humour and irony with “melancholic optimism” and “cheerful pessimism”. His oeuvre offers a lucid and compassionate vision of humankind, in which memory shapes identity. 

Finally, the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord has been conferred on American astronaut Christina Koch. Her career symbolizes the human capacity to broaden horizons through shared effort. Christina Koch’s work within the framework of the Artemis II mission represents a message of global scope – “Planet Earth, you are a crew”– that invites us to strengthen international cooperation and jointly take on the challenges of the future.

The 2026 Princess of Asturias Awards reaffirm this year the value of collaboration, creativity and shared responsibility as essential pillars on which to build a fairer and more supportive future for all.