The great gesture of closeness and affection of Felipe VI and Letizia with the poet Rafael Cadenas, 93, Cervantes Prize winner

Total summer day in Alcalá. The Madrid town celebrates the Literary and Book Festival in the Auditorium of the University of Alcalá de Henares. For this reason, the kings Philip VI y Joy have awarded the 2023 Cervantes Prize to the Venezuelan author Rafael Cadenas, 93 years old, a living reference to literature in Spanish. The great cultural event has been this Monday, April 24, at 12:00 p.m. in an academic setting that celebrates these days the Festival of the Word. A first level solemn event that coincides in time with the visit of Don Juan Carlos to Vitoria, after five days in Sanxenxo. The father of Felipe VI plans to attend a medical examination in the Basque capital, the city where his former son-in-law lives, Iñaki Urdangarin.

After 11:00 a.m., the accredited press media wait in the center of the Patio de los Filósofos. Next to an old stone well. It has been heard: “They are coming.” The Kings have been received in the Plaza de Cervantes by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, who has opted for a powerful lilac look; and by Miquel Iceta, Minister of Culture. Don Felipe has reviewed the Company of Honors. Later, they entered the university of Alcalá through the old Student Caserío.

Wise of letters and life, Rafael Cadenas was in the Auditorium. A lover of silence and pauses, the author of Defeat has been the absolute protagonist of the act. The media have followed the ceremony from the press room. The Ciudad de Alcalá Orchestra started the event with the interpretation of the national anthem.

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When Don Felipe presented him with the award, the monarch helped him put on the cord that held the award. Doña Letizia has congratulated him with both hands. A gesture of closeness and affection with the illustrious writer. He helped Cadenas his daughter, Paula, who has assisted him to walk and get on the stage. The writer has appreciated the two-minute applause that the audience has given him. “This is an honor that surpasses me… I am full of Spain”, Cadenas began his Cervantine speech.

Cervantina Week, a party

The Venezuelan poet, talkative and with a great sense of humor, appeared days before in Madrid, at the National Library, where he slipped those very descriptive words when remembering the announcement of his award, in 2022: “When I received the news, I thought I could be an invention of Don Quixote in one of his wanderings…” But no. There he was, at the university in Alcalá, happy, at the festival of letters.

The Kings, in Alcalá and the emeritus, in Vitoria

Since April 19, Don Juan Carlos has left us new photographs sailing aboard his beloved Bribón in Sanxenxo. But not haggling, due to bad weather. Throughout these days, always faithful to the script dictated by discretion, the emeritus has maintained a low media exposure.

This Monday, in Vitoria, where his son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin lives, he plans to attend the clinic of Dr. Eduardo Anitua, an odontostomatologist. It is published by El Diario Vasco. While Juan Carlos I crossed the waters of the Ría de Pontevedra for a walk, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have continued with their respective agendas. Message of absolute institutional normality.