June 18, 2021: King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia attended an event of delivery of the Order of Civil Merit Condecorations to mark the 7th anniversary of King Felipe’s proclamation.
June 18, 2021: King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia attended an event of delivery of the Order of Civil Merit Condecorations to mark the 7th anniversary of King Felipe’s proclamation.
On the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the Proclamation of His Majesty the King, as on previous occasions -2015 and 2019- it is a matter of expressing the recognition of the Crown to those who carry out their life and ordinary professional work in an exemplary way, at the service of society.
On this occasion, in a very special way, for their contribution during the challenge of Covid-19, we recognize citizens for their example of personal commitment and social contribution.
The selection, with criteria of representation and territorial and sectoral balance, is the result of the Crown’s contact with society and has been carried out with the institutional contribution of all the administrations and also of many other entities, organizations, associations and representative groups in different fields, labor, economic, social, educational and cultural. Those who have been recognized with the Medal of the Order of Civil Merit are a reflection of the situation experienced by millions of people in the time marked by the pandemic and its consequences.
The 17 Autonomous Communities and the two Autonomous Cities are represented, with twice the representation, the Communities with a population of more than 5 million (Andalusia, Catalonia, Valencian Community and Madrid). There are 16 women and 8 men aged between 30 and 74 years old.
The professions represented have to do with different sectors: Health, Research, Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing, Hospitality, Commerce, Transport, Logistics, Services, Volunteering, Education and Culture. During the most acute phase of the pandemic and confinement, all these sectors showed the fundamental role they play every day in the lives of citizens. There are five fundamental groups of awarded: those linked to the rural world and the primary sector, those related to knowledge management (education, culture and science), those linked to volunteering and the third sector, health workers and, finally, some of the professions that were shown, in addition to health workers, as essential during the confinement of the pandemic.
During the event, Their Majesties the King and Queen, HRH the Princess of Asturias and HRH the Infanta Doña Sofía were accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and Grand Chancellor of the Order of Civil Merit, Arancha González Spade; the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and Chancellor of the Order of Civil Merit, María Celsa Nuño; and by the general director of Protocol, Chancellery and Orders and secretary of the Order of Civil Merit, Caridad Batalla.
Elena Ochoa, who acted as master of ceremony, read the biographies of the citizens who received the decorations of the Order of Civil Merit, which were:
- Don David Lafuente Rico (1982), farmer from La Rioja.
- Doña Noelia Aparicio Martínez (1972), rancher from La Milla del Río (Castilla y León).
- Don Manuel Vinatea Fernández (1961), Sailor from Santoña (Cantabria).
- Doña Cristina Crespo Miñana (1973), materials researcher from Zaragoza (Aragon).
- Doña María del Mar Delgado Serrano (1967), researcher from Córdoba (Andalusia).
- Don Esteban Orenes Piñero (1978), biosanitary researcher from Murcia.
- Doña Cristina García Sánchez (1978), early childhood education teacher from Ceuta.
- Doña Natividad Baldominos Baldominos (1967), solidarity singer from Guadalajara (Castilla-La Mancha).
- Doña Carmen Martínez Valladares (1951), volunteer on the phone. of the hope of Silleda, Pontevedra (Galicia).
- Doña Margalida Jordà Murnar (1947), director of the educational project Naüm de Sineu, Mallorca (Balearic Islands).
- Don Miguel Herrera (1987), solidarity cook from Algodonales, Cádiz (Andalusia).
- Doña Silvia Cano Moreno (1970), doctor from Melilla.
- Don Fernando Gómez Gil (1980), nurse from Pamplona (Navarra).
- Doña Alice Mihaela Cozma (1988), ambulance driver from Extremadura.
- Doña Nuria Cascales Picó (1990), Pharmaceutical from Torremanzanas, Alicante (Valencian Community).
- Don Antonio Roldán Bonilla (1947), Mercamadrid worker in the Community of Madrid.
- Doña Cristina Díaz López (1976) and Don Sergio Mediavilla Cuesta (1974), owners of a grocery store and n the Community of Madrid.
- Mrs. Virginia Marquinez Insagurbe (1984), director of the Vitoria-Gasteiz post office (Basque Country).
- Don Albert Esteve Robles (1986), transporter from Lleida (Catalonia).
- Doña Yukonda Esparragoza Jiménez (1971), manager of a laundry in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands).
- Don Luis Alberto Ramos Fernández (1960), waste treatment worker in Oviedo (Principality of Asturias).
- Doña Marta Muñoz Escrivá (1991), hospitality assistant in Valencia (Valencian Community).
- Doña Elena García Solís (1979), supermarket cashier in Badalona (Catalonia).
At the end of the act in the Hall of Columns, the King and Queen, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Doña Sofía, went to the Hall of Halberdiers, where a group photograph with the decorated ones took place. Later, they held a meeting with the winning children of the school contest “What is a King for you?”
The Order of Civil Merit was instituted by King Alfonso XIII, by Royal Decree of June 25, 1926, to reward “the civic virtues of officials at the service of the State, as well as the extraordinary services of Spanish and foreign citizens in the good of the Nation ”.
The preamble to the order states that “its purpose is to reward merits of a civil nature, acquired by personnel dependent on any of the public Administrations” or “by persons outside the Administration, who render or have rendered relevant services to the State. , with extraordinary work, profitable initiatives, or with exemplary constancy in the fulfillment of their duties. This decoration may also be awarded to persons of foreign nationality, provided they have rendered distinguished services to Spain or a notable collaboration in all matters that benefit the Nation. His Majesty the King is the Grand Master of the Order of Civil Merit. All the decorations of this order will be conferred in his name and the corresponding titles will be authorized with the stamp of his signature.
