COMUNICACIÓN

King Felipe VI presides over the award ceremony for the Carlos V European Prize for Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe

His Majesty the King will preside Europe Day on Thursday, 9 May, at the Royal Monastery of Yuste, the award ceremony of the Thirteenth Carlos V European Prize, awarded by the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, which for the first time has been awarded to an initiative, the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which have served to turn culture into an instrument for better knowledge of Europe and Europeans.

As a novelty, this year includes the raising of the European flag that will take place at the arrival of His Majesty the King, accompanied by the anthem interpreted by a wind trio of the Extremadura Youth Orchestra (Orquesta Joven de Extremadura).

The event will then begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Royal Monastery of Yuste. Carmen Calvo, Vice-President of the Government; Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American general secretary and academic of Yuste; Ana Pastor, President of the Congress of Deputies; Guillermo Fernández Vara, President of the Regional Government of Extremadura (Junta de Extremadura); and Marcelino Oreja, winner of the Eleventh Carlos V European Prize and academic of Yuste, will be present among other personalities.

Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and highest representative of the Cultural Itineraries of the Council of Europe will be in charge of collecting the award.

Cecilia Pereira Marimón, commissioner of the Xacobeo 2021 and representative of the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago, the first certified itinerary of the Council of Europe will participate in the ceremony. And the young Inés Rodríguez Aceituno, student of the Jaranda Secondary School from Jarandilla de la Vera, will also take part in the ceremony. Furthermore, the Extremadura Youth Orchestra (Orquesta Joven de Extremadura) will be responsible for performing the European Anthem, together with soprano Carmen Solís, performing a musical programme with pieces by Desprez, Marzi, Händel, Arbeau, De Vitoria, Elgar, De Cabezón and De Arañés.

In addition, some twenty ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from European and Ibero-American countries, such as Poland, Slovenia; Romania, Latvia; Czech Republic; United Kingdom; Malta; Cyprus; Dominican Republic; Brazil; Chile; Luxembourg; Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal, El Salvador, Italy, Belgium, Andorra and Spain, as well as several members of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste such as Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra and Monica Luisa Macovei, will also attend.

Once the solemn ceremony is over, the ‘Yuste Peace Olive Tree’ will be planted, it being a tree that symbolises peace and European values, these values also being upheld by the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation.
With this award, the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation wishes to acknowledge the work of those people, organisations, projects or initiatives that, with effort and dedication, have contributed to the general knowledge and enhancement of the cultural, social, scientific and historical values of Europe, in addition to the process of European construction and integration.

This award represents the spirit of the construction of a united Europe, and its presentation coincides with the commemoration of Europe Day, becoming an opportunity to claim, from Extremadura and Spain, the values of a united, supportive and committed Europe.

CULTURAL ITINERARIES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The jury of this Thirteenth edition wanted to recognise the Cultural Itineraries of the Council of Europe for promoting and making possible the European values of cultural diversity, respect for respective identities, intercultural dialogue and the exchange and knowledge of countries and history.

The jury also valued the work that the itineraries develop in favour of cooperation in research and development; the enhancement of European memory, history and heritage; cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans; contemporary cultural and artistic practice and cultural tourism.

Also, the image and position of Europe projected by the Cultural Itineraries abroad and its relations with the rest of the world.

To date, the winners of the Carlos V European Award have been Jacques Delors (1995), Wilfried Martens (1998), Felipe González (2000), Mijail Gorbachov (2002), Jorge Sampaio (2004), Helmut Kohl (2006), Simone Veil (2008), Javier Solana (2010), José Manuel Durao Barroso (2013), Sofía Corradi (2016); Marcelino Oreja (2017) and Antonio Tajani (2018).

Thirteen editions that allow to confirm that the Carlos V European Award has an established and proven route that reaffirms Extremadura’s commitment with the process of building Europe and the values it promotes, highlighting the importance of initiatives like this, created from civil society, towards the unity and cooperation of the peoples of Europe.

The Thirteenth Carlos V European Award ceremony is supported by Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) and the Regional Government of Extremadura (Junta de Extremadura), sponsored by Extremadura Avante, Canal Extremadura and Fogones Imperiales, and with the collaboration of Iberdrola and Telefónica.

LIVE BROADCAST

The award ceremony of the Carlos V European Awards will be broadcast live by Canal Extremadura TV and through the link to the RTVE website http://www.rtve.es/noticias/mas-24/

It will also be accessible from the interactive RTVE Red Button service on Smart TVs and from the Smartphone application RTVE News.