The XXI International Prize Grupo Compostela–Xunta de Galicia awarded to Marcelino Oreja Aguirre

The jury of the XXI International Prize Grupo Compostela–Xunta de Galicia recognises with this award the work of Marcelino Oreja Aguirre to set a path that marked the future of the Pilgrimage routes as crossroads of European values.

The jury, which gathered in May 2017 in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), highlighted the figure of the prize-winner as promoter of the Camino de Santiago and Human Rights, also underlining his leadership in favor of the construction of Europe and in the participation of Spain in the Council of Europe.

Marcelino Oreja Aguirre collected the golden shell, symbol of the Compostela Group of Universities, during the closing ceremony of the XXIII General Assembly of the CGU, held at the University of Pécs (Hungary). The awardee resolved to donate the economic contribution (6,000 euros) of the XXI International Prize Grupo Compostela-Xunta de Galicia to Aldeas Infantiles SOS Galicia.

Marcelino Oreja Aguirre

Marcelino Oreja Aguirre is President of the University Institute for European Studies of the San Pablo-CEU University (Spain), President of the Ad Sanctum Iacobum Peregrinatio Foundation, as well as honorary member of both the Royal Academy of Moral and Politics Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Doctor in Law by the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), he has held numerous positions of political and diplomatic significance in the Spanish and European institutions, as for instance: Minister for Foreign Affairs in Spain during the Transition (1976-1980), Secretary General of the Council of Europe (1984-1989) and European Commissioner (1994-1999).

It is praiseworthy his intervention in the signing acts of the Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations and in the joining of Spain to the Council of Europe, as well as his collaboration in the elaboration of the first draft of European Union By-Laws, which culminated in the Maastricht Treaty (1992).

Adoptive Son of Santiago de Compostela and winner of the Golden Medal of Culture of Santiago de Compostela, he is the promoter of the Declaration of Santiago de Compostela, which designated the Camino de Santiago as the first cultural route of the Council of Europe.

Members of the Jury

The Jury of the XXI International Prize Grupo Compostela-Xunta de Galicia was chaired by the General Secretary of the Xunta de Galicia for Culture, Anxo M. Lorenzo Suárez, and composed by the following authorities:

  • The President of the Compostela Group of Universities, Marek Kręglewski.
  • The Rector of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Juan M. Viaño Rey.
  • The Rector of the University of A Coruña, Julio E. Abalde Alonso.
  • The General Secretary of the Xunta de Galicia for Universities, José Alberto Díez de Castro.
  • The Rector of the UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Sandro Roberto Valentini.

The Executive Secretary of the Compostela Group of Universities, Teresa Carballeira Rivera, acted as Secretary of the Jury.