King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain presided over the Literature Prize in the Spanish Language “Miguel de Cervantes” 2018 in which the Uruguayan writer Ida Vitale received the recognition that is granted to the creative work of Spanish and Latin American writers at the auditorium of the University of Alcalá in Madrid.
Upon arrival, the King and Queen were received with the Honours where National Anthem was played and Felipe reviewed the troops.
Mayor of City Alcalá de Henares presented the King with the commanding stick.
The event began once the royal couple took their seats in the auditorium.
Then King and Queen presented the award to the Uruguayan writer Ida Vitale. The “Miguel de Cervantes” Award is the highest recognition of the creative work of Spanish and Latin American writers.
This award, granted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, annually gives public testimony of admiration to the figure of a writer who, with the whole of his work, has contributed to significantly enrich the literary heritage in the Spanish language.
Ida Vitale thanked the King and Queen and authorities after receiving the awards. Born in Montevideo (Uruguay) in 1923. Vitale is one of the great Latin American poets and the last survivor of the exceptional Generation of ’45, which included outstanding intellectuals such as Emir Rodríguez Monegal, Ángel Rama (her first husband), Mario Benedetti, Carlos Maggi, Manuel Claps or María Inés Silva, among others. Throughout her life Ida Vitale collaborated with numerous periodicals, such as the newspaper El País, the weekly Marcha, the magazine Clinamen (of which she was co-director), the weekly Jaque (of which she was later director of its cultural pages), the Plural and Vuelta magazines, or the newspaper El Sol and Diorama in Culture (cultural supplement of the Excelsior).
After the awards, King Felipe formally addressed the gathering in which he remembered the victims of the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka.
Tomorrow King and Queen will offer a formal lunch to the winner and authorities of Literature Prize in the Spanish Language “Miguel de Cervantes” 2018.
Felipe and Letizia leaving the Campus.
Outside the campus, the royals greeted the members of the public who were waiting for them.
For the day, Queen Letizia chose a glamorous grey look out of her wardrobe. She chose a grey Carolina Herrera number that we first saw during State Visit to Portugal in 2016.
The ensemble belongs to label’s 2016 fall collection and contains a double wool grey-purple coat with a matching sleeveless dress with an attached self-belt that ties at the front. Letizia has worn the outfit many times since then like Caravaca de la Cruz visit in 2017, then during Geneva Visit in May 2018.
Letizia paired the dress with Magrit’s animal printed python leather pumps with studs at the front and back that and a clutch that has same design and pattern as the pumps that we saw for the first time at National Sports Awards in February 2018.
Queen Letizia finished her look with floral diamond earrings.
A look back at the last year’s award ceremony.
