Representatives of health workers and relatives of health personnel who had to cope with covid-19 receive the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord. Ballesteros / EFE
Courage, hope and cooperation.
These are the three words that have been heard the most during the most unusual 2020 Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony in its history.
Not only because of its atypical setting at the Reconquista hotel in Oviedo, instead of the traditional Campoamor theater setting, but also because of the content of the speeches that have been heard: all flown over by the pandemic, but also by the vindication of culture, art and science as the best tools to deal with it.
"This crisis that brought us and brings so much suffering, pain, dehumanization and death has also reminded us that harmony is only obtained with the effort of all through solidarity," recalled Dr. José Eugenio Guerrero Sanz, head of the UCI of the Hospital Gregorio Marañón, who spoke on behalf of the group of health workers after collecting the Concord Prize.
Photogallery: 2020 Princess of Asturias Awards
His speech was undoubtedly the most moving moment of the ceremony.
Especially when he remembered his colleagues who died in the exercise of their profession, which has unleashed tears among the other 14 health workers who accompanied him to collect the award: doctors, nurses, assistants, orderlies, pharmacists and also the mother of Sara Bravo López, the 28-year-old doctor who lost her life attending to her patients.
“There was discouragement, infinite fatigue, tears, fear, but we always got up again because giving up was not an option.
We were never heroes, but we did our job the best we knew how and could, aware that we shared a common destiny with all of society ”, said Guerrero Sanz.
Also the King and Princess Leonor, who for the second time intervened as president of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, after her debut last year, have focused their speeches on the pandemic.
The monarch has appealed to unity to combat it and has referred especially to health workers, whom he does recognize as heroes, who often work with insufficient means.
Also significant was the intervention of the princess, who caught the attention of young people: she asks them for responsibility, "which happens by never forgetting the people around us, who love us and whom we love."
The ceremony was also marked by the absence of several winners who could not travel due to the health crisis, but who nevertheless recorded their speeches of thanks on videos.
Among them, the Canadian writer Anne Carson, winner of the Literature Prize, who underlined the beneficial and transformative effect of culture personified in the
graces,
“those goddesses who confer upon human beings the favor of inspiring works of poetry, music and singing.
They personified the special quality or the radiance that shines in a work of art and that has its effect on us, perhaps changing our day or our life ”.
Another notable absence was that of the musician Ennio Morricone, winner of the Arts Prize along with fellow composer John Williams.
Morricone died last July, just a month after the award was awarded.
The award was collected by his son Andrea, also a musician, who also led a string ensemble that performed live
Deborah's Theme,
one of the main themes of the film
Once Upon a Time in America,
composed by his father.
Williams sent a recorded greeting in which he congratulated the Princess of Asturias Foundation for recognizing the fundamental role of the arts.
The one who was there to deliver his speech was the rally driver Carlos Sainz, winner of Sports, who has encouraged young people to pursue their dreams "with confidence."
"It will not be easy, they will not give it to you, but remember that dreams can be fulfilled and, above all, avoid the remorse of not having tried."
Cristina Fuentes La Roche and María Sheila Cremaschi as directors of the Hay Festival for Latin America and Spain (Communication and Humanities Award together with the Guadalajara International Book Fair) and the mathematician Emmanuel Candès (Scientific and Technical Research together) have received their awards in person. to Yves Meyer, Ingrid Daubechies and Terence Tao).
And to make up for their absences, Raúl Padilla López on behalf of the Guadalajara International Book Fair, economist Dani Rodrick (Social Sciences), Seth Berkley as head of the global vaccination network Gavi (International Cooperation) and mathematics sent recorded greetings Ingrid Daubechies.