He president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, this Tuesday recognized Proyecto Hombre in Castilla y León … with the Human and Social Values Award. In one of the most notable passages of his intervention, Mañueco has defined Proyecto Hombre as reflection of the “great human commitment” of the Community and has thanked the work of its five member foundations —Alcándara, in Salamanca, Aldaba, Candeal, CALS and Proyecto Joven— with people suffering from addictions and dependencies. The president has placed emphasis on the “companionship, welcome and support” that the organization provides to help recover dignity, autonomy and a life project, a task that he described as “priceless.”
He president of Proyecto Hombre in Salamanca and nationally, Manuel Muiños, He was in charge of collecting the award and recalled through the presentation video that he invited people to “reflect a lot” on the situations of “pain and suffering” and the need for society to have the capacity to receive them.
Together with Proyecto Hombre, the jury has distinguished in this edition other profiles and reference entities in different fields. The Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation Award went to Verónica Pascual Boéfor his business leadership and his promotion of industrial innovation and technological talent; the Arts award went to Nuevo Mester de Juglaría, for more than half a century dedicated to the recovery and dissemination of traditional musical folklore; and the Letters Award recognized Tomás Sánchez Santiago for a literary career marked by an ethical, critical and humanistic approach.
They were also awarded Germán Vega García-Luengosin Social Sciences and Humanities, for his work in the research and dissemination of classical Spanish theater; Laura López Valle, in Sports, as an Olympic medalist in Beijing 2008 and an international reference in synchronized swimming; and the Benavente City Council, in Tauromaquia, for their role in the organization and promotion of the Festival of the Framed Bull. In his speech, Mañueco linked all these names with the same idea: that of awards that represent “the roots”, the talent, the culture, the ability to improve and the human commitment of the Community.
But the speech did not stop at recognizing the winners. From that example, Mañueco has extended his message to the political field at a time that he defined as “complex” and “tense”. He has regretted that public life seems to have been reduced to “noise, empty phrases or inconsequential gestures” and has defended, in the face of this, a useful policy, based on “serenity, effort and results.” He has also requested that the discrepancy does not result in personal discredit and has directly appealed to the political forces of Castilla y León to “speak and understand each other” after the stage opened in March.
This call for agreement has occupied a substantial part of the intervention. The head of the regional Executive has called for a “great effort of harmony” to build a future project supported by institutional loyalty, respect for the Constitution, the Statute and the Rule of Law. Along the same lines, he has defended a Spain “of free and equal citizens, without privileges”, with “fair, sufficient and equal” financing that guarantees decent public services in all the provinces of the Community.
Mañueco has also taken advantage of the gala to vindicate the economic situation and the management of Castilla y León. He assured that the Community grows “in a very dynamic way”, that there are more people working than ever and that they do so with “the lowest taxes” in their history. To this he has added the defense of public services that he placed on the “national podium”, with express references to free education for ages 0 to 16 and the free bus through the Buscyl card, which, as he recalled, already exceeds 700,000 users and 10 million trips.
In the final stretch, the president has drawn the idea of a Castilla y León built from “solidarity humanism”, the culture of effort and a “serene identity” that, he said, “does not need shouting to affirm it.”
