The King of Spain wanted to address the three main current issues in the speech he gave to close the delivery of the XLIII edition of the Princess of Asturias awards. The head of state has spoken about his daughter Leonor, about the international situation and about the problems of Spain, with a person in charge of forming a Government who is running out of days to get the votes to be sworn in.
“Our problems are many,” he argued, insisting that “solutions will come from unity, never from division,” concluded Felipe VI, who said that the history of Spain “demonstrates” that it has always been like this. The King has uttered this phrase when the Government of Pedro Sánchez is in the midst of investiture negotiations with Bildu and with the independentists, who demand amnesty in exchange for their votes for Sánchez.
“If we want to build something that transcends and makes sense, everyone’s collaboration and commitment is more essential than ever,” he summarized. He has also asked for “an integrative will if we want to build something solid, lasting and permanent.”
For the third time throughout the speech, Don Felipe insisted that “it is with unity, with collective effort and supportive attitudes that great works are built. This is how the answers arise that really allow us to move forward.”
It was at the end of the speech when the King wanted to leave this task of unity to the Spaniards in a speech that lasted 20 minutes and began by remembering that the winners demonstrate that whatever the circumstance, we must not “give in to the worst omens.” “
“We all had hope at the beginning of the 21st century, to live in a more peaceful world. However, we all regret that this is not the case,” he reflected. Because this millennium has brought “the terrible return of war, of war conflicts in their most stark and brutal version.”
Don Felipe wanted to remember now that the conflict in the Middle East has been reactivated, how the Foundation awarded the Cooperation Prize in 1994 to Isaac Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, and Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority. The King recalled his efforts to create conditions of peace in the region, “a peace that must be nurtured, sustained and defended.” Furthermore, he recalled: “We Nations must give each other guarantees of respect and security.”
Don Felipe has pointed out that “the shadow also extends over democracies” and has said that these systems are fragile. “It is the hour of the greatest sense of responsibility, in these circumstances that duty must be extreme.”
This year is special, as the Awards have been held eleven days before the Princess of Asturias turns 18 and swears in the Constitution. The King recalled that “she is at an important moment in her training to fulfill her institutional obligations.” And he has said that the event on October 31 will be “of enormous institutional significance, historical symbolism and personal commitment.”
Both he and the King are “deeply proud of his sense of duty, his dedication and the enthusiasm with which he faces the future.”