Prince Felipe made a plea for national unity at the Prince of Asturias award ceremony last Friday afternoon. Calling on the people of Spain to "continue working together in this great endeavour that is Spain to create an increasingly solid and cohesive society based on the principles and values embodied in the Constitution," the prince said he will continue to dedicate "all his efforts as heir to the throne" to achieve this aim. 

The 27th edition of the Prince of Asturias awards featured a moving tribute to the victims of the Holocaust as the directors of the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem picked up the Concord Prize.

Notable absentees among this year's prize-winners were Bob Dylan (Arts) and Ralf Dahrendorf (Social Sciences), although Al Gore (International Cooperation), Michael Schumacher (Sport), Amos Oz (Literature), Ginés Morata and Peter Lawrence (Scientific and Technical Reserach), and the directors of the 'Science' and 'Nature' magazines (Communication and Humanities), were all at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo to pick up their cheques for €50,000 euros and reproductions of a scuplture by Catalan artist, Joan Miró.