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DESPERATE Housewife Eva Longoria is now a Dame – thanks to a prestigious distinction conferred on her in Oviedo, northern Spain.
The largest city in the single-province coastal region of Asturias was aflame with fans, reporters and photographers when the Texas-born actress, 47, graced its streets this week, taking in the Campoamor Theatre and the San Juan Basilica during her trip.
Best known for her long-running rôle of Gabrielle Solís in the cult USA series starring Teri Hatcher, Nicollette Sheridan, Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross, Eva had been invited to Asturias to receive the Royal Noble Corps medal, which automatically makes her 'Dame Longoria'.
She posed, thrilled, for a picture that she has since uploaded on Instagram (below left), brandishing the award presented to her by Francisco de Paula Enrique de Borbón, Duke of Sevilla.
Olivia de Borbón declared herself Eva's honorary godmother, and she took a VIP tour of Oviedo with her husband José Antonio Bastón, her son Santiago Enrique, and her best friend María Bravo.
“I'm so happy to receive this honour, really proud,” Eva told reporters shortly before a party in her name at Oviedo's La Reconquista Hotel, where she was staying.
The actress, born in Corpus Christi, Texas, is one of four daughters of Mexican immigrants, but did not start learning Spanish until she was 34, in 2009.
Her parents had spoken to her exclusively in English throughout her childhood, and deliberately brought her up as a US citizen.
Only after learning her parents' native tongue did Eva develop a huge fascination for her Mexican roots, and began to trace her family tree.
She discovered her father's granddad – her own great-granddad – and his family before him for generations were from Asturias.
Not only that, but her great-grandfather's surname came from the name of his village, Llongoria.
In 2017, armed with her new and intriguing genealogical information, Eva travelled to northern Spain to see for herself where her father's side of the family had originated from.
Given a hero's welcome, with locals in traditional costume playing folk music, Eva posed for photos next to the village sign that bears her family name in Castilian Spanish and in the regional language, asturianu.
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