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"Devastated by this cruel pandemic, the book

has been a faithful companion

for a large part of the population", with these words, the Minister of Culture, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, has inaugurated the events for the International Book Day, which is celebrated this April 23.

One more year, the Kings have wanted to be part of the most institutional act that pays

tribute to culture.

"Thank you, Your Majesties, for always being committed to culture," said the minister.

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have chaired the conference organized by the Instituto Cervantes.

The Monarch and his wife have moved to the headquarters that the

Institute has in Alcalá de Henares

, the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes.

"On some occasion the book has been defined as

the most amazing invention of humanity,

a feeling and a thinking that, like Jorge Luis Borges, we have all shared at some point," said the Minister of Culture during his speech, in the Cloister of the Colegio del Rey. Uribes has contributed one more line to the definition of books: "That analogical ingenuity that has allowed humanity

the democratic dissemination of knowledge

."

On International Book Day, the Institute wanted to give prominence to Lope de Vega, Delibes and Machado: "It is

important to permanently go to the classics,

to the origins, in this act of recognition of the teachers there is at the same time a sign of modesty and intelligence, "said the minister. For this reason, after Uribes's words, two actors from the National Classical Theater Company have read a fragment of

El perro del hortelano

, an emblematic work by

Lope de Vega

. Next,

José Sacristán

has read the story

El pueblo en la cara,

by

Miguel Delibes;

Viento Sur

, by the Argentine author

María Elena Walsh

and the poem

Don Francisco Giner de los Ríos

, by

Antonio Machado

.

The event was completed with the telematic presence of Francisco Brines, Cervantes 2020 Prize, who has recited

My summary:

As if nothing had happened / This is my summary / And it is in my epitaph / My nothing speaks live / And he looks into a mirror / That does not reflect anyone

However, the minister has announced that

the Kings will visit Brines this spring

at his home in Oliva to present him with the award

Once the act was over, the Kings stopped to speak with José Sacristán, with whom the Queen had

an intense conversation

that lasted two minutes. Next, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia visited the exhibition

Los Libros de Jesús Munárriz

. The collection, acquired by the Cervantes Institute, is the

starting point of the Patrimonial Library

, a new space that, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Institute's creation, has been inaugurated with a selection of contemporary poetry titles. There is no shortage of works by Ida Vitale, Joan Margarit or Francisco Brines himself, the three poets awarded with the Cervantes.

Along with the Kings have also been the president of the Community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; the president of the Madrid Assembly,

Juan Trinidad;

the Government delegate,

Mercedes González;

the mayor of Alcalá de Henares,

Javier Rodríguez Palacios

; the director of the Cervantes Institute,

Luis García Montero;

the Secretary of State for International Cooperation,

Ángeles Moreno

; the Secretary General of Culture,

Javier García;

the magnificent rector of the University of Alcalá,

José Vicente Saz Pérez

and the director of the Rae,

Santiago Muñoz Machado.

The Kings maintain a close relationship with the Instituto Cervantes.

At its headquarters in Madrid, Princess Leonor debuted at her first reading of the Constitution in 2018. Last March, in addition, the Heiress presided over her first solo act at the same venue.

In addition, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have always wanted to support International Book Day.

Last year, his daughters participated in the collective reading of Don Quixote.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Alcala de Henares

  • Jose Manuel Rodriguez Uribes

  • Madrid

  • Miguel de Cervantes

  • Philip VI

  • culture

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