Fundacion Hispano-Britanica Opens First Spanish-British Communications Award

One of the leading cultural institutions promoting UK and Spain links, the Madrid based Fundacion Hispano Britanica, has announced the opening of its first ever Spanish-British Communications Award worth €3,000.

The aim of the award is to “promote and recognise the work of journalists, communicators and disseminators in the written media, in Spain and the United Kingdom, for their contribution to a better relationship and mutual understanding between Spanish and British societies”.

The award was created in honour of Queen Eleanor of Castile (1241- 1290), who through her mariage to England´s Edward I, became a key figure in early medieval Europe. Eleanor “subsequently symbolised the beginning of a period of understanding between the two monarchies that would later give birth to the Kingdoms of Spain and England”.

King Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and Hammer of the Scots ( the latter depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster, Braveheart), ruled England and much of modern day France, had by the standards of the time, a long 35-year reign, from 1272 to 1307.

Eleanor alas did not – she married young – at 13 – and is believed to have delivered him 16 children and their offspring continued the Plantaganet line until the culmination of the Wars of the Roses in 1485.

Despite the marriage being arranged for political reasons, contemporary chroniclers described it as a warm and loving one. She accompanied him on his many military campaigns including the Crusades where she was said to have sucked the poison from a wound inflicted by the Saracens during the Siege of Acre.

When she died, the hearbroken Edward built stone shrines to her along the funeral route to London, where she was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Many of the famous Eleanor Crosses, of which 12 were erected, still stand in original or replica form.

The most famous of which is just a stone´s throw from London´s Trafalgar Square in front of Charing Cross Station.

Entries for the award, which can be in English or Spanish can be subimitted from 20th July with a maximum length of 2,000 words and have been published between 19th May 2022 and 19 Mayth 2024.

Each candidate can submit a maximum of five written works.

The judging panel, appointed by the Fundación Hispano Británica, is chaired by José María de Areilza Carvajal, Count of Motrico.

The Fundacion was established in 1988 and is the oldest UK-Spanish foundation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and educational links between the two countries.

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