King Felipe of Spain was at the National Museum Art Centre Reina Sofía to award the Influyente Prizes in their eight categories.
The magazine El Confidencial and the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills organise the ceremony every year.
His Majesty was accompanied by the President of the Madrid Community, the Minister for Green Transitions and Demographic Challenge, the Minister for Territorial Policy and the Mayor of Madrid, among others.
His Majesty was the first one to deliver a speech in which he highlighted the role played by media within society as a “substantial part of democracy” and a “public space in which they have the big responsibility to hold up and spread democratic values, ethical principles and the pluralism of ideas; to help in guaranteeing the coexistence between citizens and the request for exemplarity from everyone.”
After the King’s words, the floor was ceded to the President of El Confidencial, the Director of Herbert Smith Freehills, and the magazine’s director, a video was projected summarising the trajectory and achievement of the award recipients.
It was then time for the main moment of the ceremony. From the hands of King Felipe, the winners received their awards. The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum received the prize for Culture, the Telefónica company for Enterprise, the Heura Foods startup for Environment, Doctors Without Borders for Social Impact, the Malaga Valley initiative for Innovation, pharma companies Rovi and Moderna for Health and Science, Valentín Fuster for Professional Trajectory and swimmer Teresa Perales for Sports.
The latter was actually on her second meeting with the King, as she received the Princess of Asturias Award in 2021. The ceremony then drew to a close, and the King made his way back to Zarzuela Palace.
This is the fifth edition of the Influyente Awards, and previous award recipients include chef José Andres from World Central Kitchen, actor Antonio Banderas and F1 pilot Carlos Sainz.
