The Princess of Girona awards go to young people and are enjoyed in the process by those over 40, numerous in the Liceu, because they know better than anyone that talent requires perseverance and a country, youth with drive. “You are never fully formed,” warned singer Luz Casal, forty years on the road, in a chat with Soleá Morente and the orchestra conductor Andrés Salado, awarded by the Fundació Princesa de Girona in 2016.
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The ceremony honored six young people with talent, dedication, and vocation because all of them, since childhood, said they were clear that they had not come into this world to vacation but to fulfill dreams and improve the world in the process. Anything but mediocrity.
“Progressing together is the only thing that makes sense,” said King Felipe VI at the Liceu
The energy filled a Barcelona Liceu more intergenerational than ever and confirmed that the Kings of Spain are at home in Barcelona. “Progressing together is the only thing that makes sense,” affirmed Felipe VI who opened the event with a speech, alternating Catalan and Spanish, which gave greater prominence to the Princess of Girona.
“If you don’t do it, who will?” asked Guillermo García-Gauna, awarded in 2020, to introduce the young Hatim Azhari, born in Morocco and raised in the Serrat-inspired Poble Sec, distinguished in the social category. With emotion, Azhari, president of the youth association Joves Units del Poble Sec, recalled the day in his childhood when a teacher, Conxita, told him: “You are very intelligent!” That support was decisive for him to believe in his ability to influence society. With a Palestine badge on his lapel, Azhari concluded with a “Long live the freedom of oppressed peoples!”, a cheer that some will dedicate to the Palestinians and others to the Sahrawis.
The prevailing idea was that of the “shared movement,” a concept that means something as simple as “unity is strength,” especially with people like these six young individuals, who breathe vocation and goals, some celestial like that of the Mexican astrophysicist Rafael Luque, who has contributed to the discovery of exoplanets and was one of the two young Latin Americans. Or the promising ambition of the Catalan film director Gemma Blasco.
The ceremony even started a few minutes before 7 p.m., perhaps due to Felipe VI’s interest, down to the last detail, in watching the World Cup semifinal. “Let’s see if another group of young Spaniards gives us another joy,” said the monarch. Not even he imagined the magnitude of the victory…
The Liceu audience reaffirmed their commitment to these awards and a Foundation that is growing and has found the right balance between social commitment and excellence. Among them, reaffirming their involvement with Catalan society, were the editor of La Vanguardia, Javier Godó, the Group’s president, Carlos Godó, and the director of Libros de Vanguardia, Ana Godó.
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