This Wednesday, July 10th, the ceremony of the 15th anniversary of the foundation of the Princess of Girona Awards was held in Lloret de Mar, and Princess Leonor had an outstanding participation.
Leonor, Princess of Asturias and of Girona gave an inspiring speech in which she highlighted the contributions of award winners.
The heir to the throne took the stage on two occasions: the first, together with her parents, the King and Queen, and her sister, the Infanta Sofia, to present the awards; the second, to deliver a speech, the first of this 2024.
Princess Leonor’s Speech at the Princess of Girona Awards
As in previous editions, Leonor perfectly combined Spanish and Catalan, demonstrating her mastery of the language of Ramon Llull.
Since the first time she spoke in Catalan in 2019, during the same awards, Leonor has shown a surprising fluency.
“Good evening, bona nit from the heart of the Costa Brava, here, in Girona, a place where innovation and beauty go hand in hand for us all to enjoy,” began the heir to the throne.
In her speech, Leonor wanted to share an inspiring story.
“I would like to share with all of you a story. I advance you that it is not long and it ends well. In this story of exceptional people there are journeys, emotions, determination and a lot of determination to make things work. There are promises, heroines and heroes, tears and illusions. There are even seedlings. One called arabidopsis thaliana, for example. Moi uses them because they have a great genetic variability that could help improve adaptation to climate change,” he explained, referring to Moisés Expósito-Alonso, winner of the Princess of Girona Award for Research.
Then, in Catalan, he mentioned Susana Arrechea, Princess of Girona International Award, highlighting her return to Guatemala to support indigenous girls and women in their access to connectivity and energy.
He also spoke of actress Victoria Luengo, Princess of Asturias Award for Arts and Letters, admiring her way of living her profession and her respect for acting.
About Daniel Millo, Princess of Girona Social Award, Leonor pointed out his ability to create alliances between different sectors to combat urban precariousness in Spain and France.
Leonor then went on to talk about Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros, Princess of Girona Business Award, praising his work in building wells and storage tanks in countries without access to clean water.
The last awardee, Yarivith Carolina González, Princess of Girona International Award, was highlighted for her ability to recover valuable metals from cell phone and electric car batteries, returning them to the sustainable production chain, and for her work in schools in Latin America, where she inspires scientific vocations.
Princess Leonor concluded her speech by highlighting that all these protagonists found a reference to move forward in times of doubt.
“I was three years old when my parents promoted this foundation with the support of many companies and institutions that believed in this project and that today, 15 years later, it is growing with strength, determination and results. The impact of its activity is evident in thousands of young people whom the foundation accompanies to improve their training, find their talent and broaden their outlook,” said the Princess of Asturias.
Leonor left the stage to applause, but not before thanking the Foundation in Catalan and Spanish.
The heir to the throne received the affectionate and proud congratulations of her parents and her sister, the Infanta Sofia.
Princess Leonor’s Full Speech
“Good evening, bona nit from the heart of the Costa Brava, here in Girona, a place where innovation and beauty go hand in hand for all of us to enjoy.
I would like to share with you all a story. I’ll tell you in advance that it is not long and it ends well. In this story of exceptional people there are journeys, emotions, determination and a lot of determination to make things work. There are promises, heroines and heroes, tears and illusions. There are even seedlings. One called arabidopsis thaliana, for example. Moi uses them because they have a great genetic variability that could help improve adaptation to climate change. He always says he is a boot, coat and key evolutionary biologist. And from Berkeley he looks at the world in his MOILAB to think global and act local.
In this he is similar to Susana, who returned to Guatemala after having studied everything in chemical engineering and nanotechnology and decided to support indigenous girls and women so that they would have connectivity and energy. And to do it in their native languages. When she was 14 (fourteen) years old she received her first scholarship, which later became many more. Almost at the same age, at 15, Victòria went to a professional stage and since then she has never left a set. Her way of feeling the craft, her respect for the interpretation, serve her today, 20 years later, to not take herself seriously, to appreciate her success and enjoy the “pain” that emotions pass through her body as the creator that she is. She continues touring our country with a monologue, Prima Facie, which talks about sexual violence against women and leaves many questions in the air and some categorical certainties. Well, Daniel is that neither at 15 (fifteen) nor at 18 (twenty) he had things clear. Not even after having started architecture. But he began, as he explains, to get out of the test and discovered that social change only moves at the pace of trust. This social artisan creates alliances between the public sector, the private sector, academia, the third sector and the neighborhoods, his communities, to overcome urban precariousness in the first world. Yes, here in Spain. And in France.
Antonio’s work also has to do with change. He explains it like this: before demanding, change yourself and change now. He is an architect like Daniel and discovered that there is no greater material poverty than not having drinking water to drink, to wash, to live. That is why he builds wells, storage tanks and sanitation infrastructures in countries where they do not have access to clean water. It sells water here to give them the water of life there. It is disheartening that today there are still 700 million people without access to clean water. And what Yarivith is doing with the recovery of high-value metals from cell phone and electric car batteries is almost unbelievable. She returns them to the sustainable production chain and still has time to go to schools in Latin America to awaken scientific vocations and to tell the little ones with great rigor what the circular economy is.
The stories of Susana, Antonio, Victòria, Moisés, Yarivith and Daniel have several things in common, besides being successful and all of them are in their thirties. When they felt incapable, ignorant or small, they found a reference to hold on to in order to move forward. They understood that they could not move forward alone. They thought differently. They took risks. They gave a new meaning to these words: sustainable, accessible, inclusive. They discovered what they were good at. And where they could contribute. From culture and its essential transforming power, from science and its vocation to solve problems. And now they are the reference points of my generation. We have just listened to them and I am impressed by all that they have contributed with their testimonies. I admire you and thank you for what you did and how you think.
I was three years old when my parents promoted this foundation with the support of many companies and institutions that believed in this project and that today, 15 years later, is growing with strength, determination and results. The impact of its activity is evident in thousands of young people whom the foundation accompanies to improve their training, find their talent and broaden their vision. With real support and attention to education and mental health. With purpose. With proven usefulness. Thanks to everyone, thanks to the team, thanks to the generosity of so many people who manage that every year and in this ceremony, young people feel a new impulse, think long and look high, without losing sight of reality, but with hope and energy to continue striving to improve it. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.”