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.”
