Lloret de Mar, the most touristy city in the province of Girona, will be the setting this year for the Princess of Girona Awards ceremony and the activities convened by the Princess of Girona Foundation (FPdGi) on the 9th and 10th of July. The events will be presided over by Princess Leonor, the King and Queen of Spain, and Infanta Sofía. After several itinerant editions, following the Catalan independence process which made it impossible to hold the event in the capital city of Girona, the activities were moved to Barcelona and Cornellà. Last year, the venue was the Camiral hotel in Caldes de Malavella, a location situated around a golf course isolated from the town. This time, the ceremony and the meeting with young people will take place at the Costa Brava Congress Palace, a facility located in an urban environment next to the town's casino.
From 2009 to 2017, the events took place at the Auditori de Girona. In 2018, amidst the political turmoil and due to the city council's refusal to provide the venue, the award ceremony was held at Mas Marroch, a hotel complex in Vilablareix owned by the Roca brothers. The workshops organized by the FPdGi for young people took place at the Camiral Hotel in Caldes de Malavella. In 2019, marking the Foundation's tenth anniversary and facing a lack of cooperation from Catalan institutions, the awards were moved from Girona to Barcelona, specifically at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya on Diagonal Avenue, amidst high security measures and protests from pro-independence groups. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic. In 2021, the awards remained in Barcelona, this time at CaixaForum building on Montjuic. The following year, the event was hosted at the Museu de les Aigües in Cornellà. In 2023, the awards returned to the province of Girona and took place at the Camiral Hotel in Caldes de Malavella.
The Princess of Girona, during the awards ceremony in 2022, which took place at the Museu de les Aigües of Cornellà
The Princess of Girona Awards reach their 15th edition this year. Awards that have been promoting since 2010 research, artistic creativity, innovation, solidarity, and entrepreneurial talent among young people up to 35 years old who, with their work, effort, and dedication, aim to make the world a better place from different fields.
The awards were announced in different stages of the Talent Tour that began its journey last January in Lleida, where architect Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros was awarded the Create Company prize; the next stop was in Salamanca where actress Victoria Luengo was announced as the winner of the Art prize; in Cádiz, architect Daniel Millor was proclaimed the Social award winner, and in Santander, the Research prize was announced for plant biologist and geneticist Moisés Expósito.
The King and Queen, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, along with the winners of last year's Princess of Girona Awards
This year, for the first time, the International awards have been granted to young Ibero-American talents who, on this occasion, will receive, in the CreaEmpresa category, Susana Arrechea (Guatemala, 1988) and in the Research category, Yarivith Gonzalez (Argentina, 1988).
Coinciding with the awards ceremony, other activities will take place throughout the day at the same venue of the Teatre Municipal de Lloret. In the morning, the King and Queen will preside over the meeting of the Advisory Board of the FPdGi, while Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía will get to know more closely some programs and initiatives of the Foundation.