The Parliament of the Canary Islands awards its Gold Medal to Felipe VI

The Board of the Parliament of the Canary Islands has unanimously agreed to award the institution's Gold Medal to King Felipe VI "for his outstanding service, commitment and connection" with the archipelago.

The president of the Canary Islands Autonomous Chamber, Astrid Pérez, promoter of this recognition, stresses in a statement that this distinction aims to "reaffirm the permanent commitment that binds the Crown and the Canary Islands." Pérez adds that granting this honorary consideration to the Head of State "is an act of justice, since His Majesty has fulfilled, fulfills and will fulfill an outstanding service to the Autonomous Community, with which he maintains a special connection."

"Felipe VI has shown a permanent commitment to democracy in our country and enormous sensitivity and special affection, as the highest representative of the Crown, towards the Canary Islands and towards our Parliament, to which he presented the first Gold Medal of the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts on October 7, 2021," he recalls.

The president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands stresses that in his first ten years of reign, Felipe VI "has given ample evidence of sensitivity and solidarity with the Canary Islands, in moments as complicated as the Covid-19 pandemic, the volcanic eruption of La Palma or the fires of Gran Canaria and Tenerife."

"Without forgetting his permanent presence in acts of special social and cultural relevance in our islands," adds Pérez, regarding the King's participation in 54 official acts in the Canary Islands, "which highlights his special connection with this land."

In October 2006, the Canarian Parliament, under the presidency of Gabriel Mato, agreed to grant its first Gold Medal to King Juan Carlos I. The award ceremony was held on November 22 of that same year. Now, almost 18 years after that tribute, the regional Chamber approves a new recognition to the Royal House, this time in the figure of Felipe VI.

The regulations governing the granting of the Medal of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, approved by Board agreement of October 17, 2006, states in its article one that it is created to distinguish personalities or institutions and groups that, having stood out in the service to this Parliament or to the Autonomous Community in general, are worthy, in the opinion of the Parliament, of honorary consideration.

It may also be granted to institutions, authorities and personalities who, due to the special relationship or link with the Parliament of the Canary Islands or for reasons of reciprocity or courtesy, are deserving of it.