Julian Barnes, Christina Koch, Timonty Garton Ash and Patti Smith will give speeches at the 2026 Princess of Asturias Awards Ceremony

Writer Julian Barnes, Princess of Asturias Laureate for Literature; astronaut Christina Koch, Princess of Asturias Laureate for Concord; Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Princess of Asturias Laureate for Social Sciences; and singer and writer Patti Smith, Princess of Asturias Laureate for the Arts, will be the laureates giving speeches at the forty-sixth edition of the Awards Ceremony.

To be held on Friday 23rd October at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, the Princess of Asturias Awards Ceremony will be presided over by Their Majesties The King and Queen of Spain, and will also count on the presence of Their Royal Highnesses The Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía.

Simultaneous translation will be available throughout the entire theatre during the ceremony in five languages: Spanish, English, French, Norwegian and Japanese. The ceremony will be accessible to persons with hearing impairment by means of sign language interpretation at the Campoamor Theatre itself, as well as via the Foundation website, and will incorporate live subtitles for the first time ever. 

LAUREATES

The remaining Laureates have also confirmed their attendance at the ceremony:

• David Klenerman, Shankar Balasubramanian and Pascal Mayer, joint Princess of Asturias Laureates for Technical and Scientific Research.
• Leo Messi, Princess of Asturias Laureate for Sports.
• Attending on behalf of Studio Ghibli, recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, will be its president, Kenichi Yoda.
• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, will be represented by Nils Kristen Sandtrøen, Norway’s Minister of Agriculture and Food; Lene Krøl Andersen, Executive Director of NordGen (Nordic Genetic Resource Center); and Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director of Crop Trust.