• Decorations The King receives the Andalusian Medal of Honor for his "exemplary defense" of the unity of Spain

King Felipe VI, accompanied by Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, has celebrated his

seventh anniversary on the Throne

with the imposition of the Medals of the Order of Civil Merit.

Regarding this anniversary, which will be celebrated tomorrow, June 19, Don Felipe has said that it is "

a day full of emotion

and memory; of gratitude and pride; and also of hope".

It is the

third year

that the King has wanted to celebrate the anniversary by decorating ordinary citizens for their performance in their working lives. He already did so in 2015, on the occasion of his first year on the Throne, and in 2019, when he celebrated five years as Head of State. Today "is a day for

the recognition and gratitude

to the people who serve in an exemplary manner to the society of which they are a part," said Don Felipe. "The Order of Civil Merit recognizes the extraordinary services performed

for the benefit of our society

, our coexistence and the general interests," explained the King.

Felipe VI, who has defined himself as the "

first servant of all

Spaniards" has said that "these are times that demand

great responsibility, a

sense of duty and a firm will to serve the community." In addition, he wanted to renew the commitment he made in his proclamation "with the same

sense of duty and vocation to serve

Spain and the Spanish that has inspired my whole life."

The Monarch wanted to highlight

"democratic values"

as what unites us: "They are the best guarantee against imposition, exclusion or confrontation", he said in an act held in the Columns Hall of the Royal Palace, with the presence from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya.

The Royal Family, during the actJ.J.

GUILLÉNPOOL

This year, the Medals have recognized

16 women and 8 men

from all the Spanish autonomous communities, whose work was an example during the Covid-19 crisis.

"

Your example unites

us, excites us and makes us proud; you are a mirror in which we must all look at ourselves; of course the King", Don Felipe stressed.

24 decorated

Those chosen to receive this award have been organized by different groups. Within the rural world, the work of the farmer

David de la Fuente Rico

has been recognized

who, together with his sister, distribute products from the garden of the Valle del Iregua throughout Spain. During the pandemic they continued their work and grew. The rancher

Noelia Aparicio Martínez

is in charge of a farm of 600 sheep and participates in programs to recruit women in rural areas.

During the pandemic, the

Cantabrian sailor

Manuel Vinatea Fernández

organized the entry and exit of ships in the port of Santoña to protect the sailors from the covid. He did it voluntarily, since he is already retired.

From the world of Science, Education and Culture, five people have been recognized. Zaragoza's

Cristina Crespo Miñana

launched a research program after studying the environmental problems linked to Covid19 and implemented a recycling program for FFP2 masks. The researcher

María del Mar Delgado Serrano

is investigating the positive and negative aspects of the move to digitization in rural environments after the pandemic.

Esteban Oreñes Piñero

is a Murcian researcher who has worked on different projects to understand the behavior of the virus. Ceutí early childhood education teacher

Cristina Sánchez

found a way to motivate and teach his students during the pandemic.

The Castilian singer from La Mancha

Natividad Baldominos

promoted measures to keep the cultural sector alive during the pandemic.

Three volunteers from different sectors have also been recognized for their altruistic work.

Carmen Martínez Valladares

accompanied many people in solitude from the Telephone of Hope.

The Mallorcan

Margalida Jordá

is in charge of the Naüm socio-educational project, which last year the Royal Family got to know closely during their holidays in Palma.

Finally, the solidarity chef

Miguel Herrera

distributed menus to people at risk of exclusion in Cádiz during the confinement.

The health sector is represented by Dr.

Silvia Cano Moreno,

head of the psychiatry area at the Hospital Comarcal de Melilla; the nurse

Fernando Gómez Gil

, from the Navarra Hospital Complex; the ambulance driver

Alice Mihaela Cozma,

who works in Extremadura; and the Alicante pharmacist

Nuria Cascales.

Mercamadrid worker

Antonio Roldán

has received the award for belonging to the essential jobs group. Also in this category, Don Felipe has highlighted the work of

Cristina and Sergio

, two owners of a grocery store in the Madrid neighborhood of Chamberí. The person in charge of one of the six Vitoria Post Offices,

Cristina Marquínez,

has been recognized for her tenacity in the pandemic, going to the office daily to organize shipments. Nor did the Lleida transporter Albert Esteve Robles stop working. The same did

Yukonda Esparragosa,

manager of a laundry in the Canary Islands;

Luis Alberto Ramos,

who carries out her work in a waste treatment plant in Oviedo and

Elena García Solís, a

cashier at a supermarket in Badalona.

The last winner has been the Valencian hospitality assistant

Marta Muñoz Escrivá.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

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