The Kings have traveled to Cádiz. The delivery of the 2022 Gold Medals for Merit in Fine Arts has left us with great moments. We begin with the Queen’s embrace of Victor Manuel, one of the illustrious honorees. The ceremony took place at the Palacio de Congresos this Wednesday, April 3. Among the 32 decorated personalities, there was, posthumously, the beloved Sevillian from Triana María Jiménez. It was her son, Alejandro Sancho, who was in charge of collecting her distinction. Also awarded were Santiago Auserón (Radio Futura), Lole Montoya and the choreographer and dancer Rocío Molina, among others.
Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have been alternating the presentation of the medals in a very simple and restrained act. When it was the Asturian singer-songwriter and composer Víctor Manuel’s turn, the Queen congratulated him with an admiring hug and two kisses. Next to the musician was his wife, the actress and singer Ana Belén, who looked divine in a two-tone black and beige outfit with a thick black stocking combined with nude pumps.
Also awarded were the actor Karra Elejalde, who chatted excitedly with the singer-songwriter Luis Pastor and the interior designer Tomás García Alía; the music producer Jesús López, the actress Carme Elías, the Bilbao Accordion Symphony Orchestra, the Miura Livestock, the Galician writer Manuel Rivas, the theater director Mario Gas, the choreographer and dancer Rocío Molina, the writer Rosa Montero, posthumously , the singer María Jiménez, the actor Javier Cámara, the singer Lole, the music producer Gay Mercader and the musician Santiago Auserón. Precisely, with the alma mater of Radio Futura (The statue of the Botanical Garden, Heat School, Poison on the skin and many others keep de la Movida), the Queen had a long and lively conversation. It was a few minutes before the winners posed together for the official family photo.
Auserón has not escaped the compliment that the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has given him when he has taken the floor during speeches: “You look like a brush, what a hair you have” and he has confessed that he used his songs to cure “his ailments.”
Don Felipe has taken the floor. With mentions of Almudena Grandes, from Cádiz by adoption, the Enlightenment and the first Spanish Constitution, the King has valued the work of artists in any of their disciplines. “Your work is the living representation of a country always proud of its culture, and the ingenuity and talent of its people. There is no Spain without its artists, without its culture. It couldn’t exist. Because culture is part of everyone and represents us, before ourselves and before the world,” she stressed.
The Queen loves this ceremony. Above all because of the opportunity that she gives her to share conversations with actors, actresses and musicians. For this act she selected a lady-style dress, tight to the figure, with a front-opening skirt and a great drape on the top. The puffed sleeves give way to the shoulder pads, armed and well marked. She signs this design Lady Pipa, with a visual effect print animal print.
Among the guests, in addition to the winners, were a smiling María del Monte and his wife, Inmaculada Casal.