"And they saw nothing / No future at all / Yet I was free". "They saw nothing, no future at all, but I was free".
Performing the revolutionary spoken-word poetry with which she launched her artistic career, poet Patti Smith captured the spirit of the speeches at the 46th Princess of Asturias Awards as she sang 'Wing'. In the song, which pays tribute to the Spain that honoured her on Friday at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, she pokes fun at the mistaken notion that human beings can survive without one another, while also championing personal freedom.
She was not the only laureate (although she was certainly the one who received the loudest cheers from the audience, with that warmth also evident on the streets of Oviedo in recent days) to underline the importance of collectivity alongside the defence of individuality, as humanity enters an uncertain second quarter of the century.
The president of the Princess of Asturias Foundation chose to open the awards ceremony by quoting Meryl Streep, one of the most memorable laureates of recent years thanks to her unbridled enthusiasm when she found herself surrounded by Asturian pipers: the ceremony was described as "the echo of the voices of many of our heroes of the 20th century and of this young century of ours".
Christina Koch challenged stereotypes about engineers with a carefully crafted speech designed to connect instantly with the audience ("The first time I came to Spain, I wept openly in the middle of the street"). Her selection as the recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord was a call to seek unity among members of "a species capable of coming together", one that is connected by "the search for affection".
Raised in a household headed by a staunch supporter of Brexit, British historian Timothy Garton Ash prompted one of the evening's few spontaneous rounds of applause when he twice referred to Britain as an inseparable part of the Old Continent.
Nor was this the only political gesture by the committed Europeanist: in a forceful defence of the freedoms won through academia, journalism and the law, Garton Ash explicitly mentioned the International Criminal Court, which has been fiercely attacked by the Trump administration and whose judges have been sanctioned by the United States.
"No AI will ever be able to replicate the emotion stirred by your work", the princess said of Julian Barnes, the Literature laureate. He opened the series of speeches with a reference to one of the most renowned Spanish painters. "When you look at Velázquez you realise that everything has already been said; most writers and artists have at some point in their lives had insights as instructive as his." Rosalía put it more simply a few years ago: "It's all been invented".
King Felipe VI was even more explicit than his daughter when discussing AI. "We live in a world in which Artificial Intelligence sometimes seems to us, because it is so efficient and immediate, more reliable than human intelligence. Our laureates dismantle that impression: their achievements, lived and worked for down to the marrow, show that only through effort and perseverance can talent turn its potential into tangible, lasting realities".
An appraisal of democracy by the monarch
The King also referred to the upcoming Spanish general elections. "In a mature society like ours, the practice of democracy also takes time. It is not exhausted in a single election, like the one we will soon experience, when citizens will once again bear the very great responsibility of defining the political direction of our country".
He sent a clear message to citizens and their political representatives. "Democracy requires daily commitment, civic and demanding, and care for its forms and institutions, so that we can continue to guarantee our coexistence, to foster that search for the common good which, as far as possible, meets and balances the legitimate interests of all citizens", Felipe VI said.
Towards the end of the ceremony, the heiress to the throne chose to quote one of the most moving lines associated with the Communication and Humanities laureate, Studio Ghibli, represented by its president, Kenichi Yoda. The protagonist of one of its films, quoting Paul Valéry, enthusiastically proclaims : "The wind rises, we must try to live!". Both she and the laureates seem to agree on the spirit of the era ahead and how best to face it.