• Surprise Leonor and Sofia set foot in Girona for the first time in an unannounced visit
  • Details The surprise appearance of the Kings, the curiosity of Leonor and Sofia and 'Instagram Girls': the morning of the Royal Family in Girona

"It is an important moment in my life", with this confession, Princess Leonor took a step forward yesterday in the speech of the Princess of Girona Awards. The daughter of Felipe VI is the president of the Foundation that bears the oldest title of the Heiress, who for the first time pronounced words full of personal meaning in a ceremony held in a hotel in Caldas de Malavella, on the outskirts of the Girona capital. The day before, Doña Leonor set foot in Girona for the first time on a visit to the Foundation's offices. "Being in Girona is a joy," he said in the perfect Catalan with which he opened his remarks, which he also pronounced in Spanish and English.

After five years of absence, the ceremony is held again in the province, fiefdom of the most radical independence movement. Therefore, the Princess, aware that it is a turning point, said that returning to the city: "It turns this awards ceremony into a very important moment for me," she said. The Princess spoke her words in an evening ceremony, which she attended with her parents and the Infanta Sofia.

In the morning, the daughters of the Kings participated in a concert workshop with young winners of previous editions. Doña Leonor assured that they had spoken "of the concerns of our generation, of what it means to be trained, of how to find and develop one's own talent, of preparing in new competences through innovative educational models, of the awareness of living in a balanced way on our planet, of the vital projects when you are twenty or twenty-five years old".

The Princess of Asturias finished her school education on May 20 after completing the International Baccalaureate at UWC Atlantic College in Wales. On August 17 he will enter the General Military Academy of Zaragoza to begin three years of military training and on October 31 he will reach the age of majority and must swear the Constitution. "I am almost 18 years old and I am about to start a new stage with a period of military training," recalled Doña Leonor. "Beyond my responsibility," she said, "I am happy because I know how much the Spaniards value our Armed Forces. It's an important moment in my life," he said. Then, after a second of pause, the Princess was sincere in her most personal statements since she is known: "I feel very eager and convinced to continue learning and giving my best encouragement to strengthen values with which I have grown," she said.

This year the Princess of Girona Awards recognise the career and talent of the violinist María Dueñas; the engineer and CEO founder of Open Cosmos, Rafel Jordá; the Doctor of Biomedicine and professor at Yale, Marc Schneeberger Pané; the art therapist and founder of the Palliative Art Foundation, Silvia Fernández Cadevall and the CEO and co-founder of the Kidogo child care network, Sabrina Habib. For the Heiress, they transmit "the ability to perceive reality and live with the enthusiasm of my age."

The King cares about youth

In a day focused on youth, Felipe VI also wanted to dedicate his words to this sector of the population, more after knowing in the morning the conclusions of the report "Paths that converge: young people and companies facing the challenge of talent" that reveals that 75% of companies have difficulty finding the talent they need, a percentage that rises to 93% in technology companies. "Talent is a virtue of the human being, without a doubt, but the key to success is to provide the necessary care at every stage," said the King.

The monarch was very concerned about the young people and asked that they be provided with "stability and guarantee of the future" to move forward. "The transformations we are experiencing influence and condition them especially – beyond clichés and assumptions – and dialogue between different generations can provide more definitive, more conclusive, more solid solutions," said the head of state. "A constructive and participatory dialogue that is framed within the principles and values of democratic societies, which promote spaces and opportunities for that interaction to be possible," he recalled. "It is within the framework of Democracy and Freedom that youth have always found more progress and development," he summarized in his plea for the prosperity of youth.

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have followed this year the second edition of the Talent Tour, an initiative that began in 2022 the FPdeGi and that travels through cities of Spain attracting young talent and in each city announces one of the winners in the different categories of the Awards. Felipe VI said after this follow-up to the activities: "We are especially excited to see how, hand in hand with the Tour, the name of the Foundation and Girona extends throughout Spain and its impact on each of the cities where it stops, becoming an asset and an excellent opportunity wherever it takes place".


  • Princess Eleanor
  • Infanta Sofia
  • Queen Letizia
  • Philip VI
  • Girona
  • Articles Marina Pina

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