Queen Sofía would receive the Gold Medal of the Balearic Islands on February 29 at the official ceremony to celebrate Balearic Islands Day, on March 1. This Friday, the Governing Council agreed to grant this distinction to Doña Sofía and noted her commitment to the Balearic community and her indirect role as ambassador of the islands for years. The spokesman for the Balearic Government, Antoni Costa, has stressed the queen's commitment to social entities in the Balearic Islands, especially her active collaboration with the Hombre Project.
The agreement granting the Medal highlights that this award is granted "for his unwavering dedication to the solidarity projects he undertakes that benefit society, for his involvement in the world of culture and for his participation in social projects that are developed in Mallorca and in recognition of its connection and promotion of the Balearic Islands".
Doña Sofía is a regular visitor to Mallorca, an island where she spends long periods of the year at the Marivent Palace. It is common to see her in the Holy Week processions that are celebrated in Palma and for years she attended the same on Easter Sunday with her entire family. The queen emeritus has been spending her summers for years at the Marivent Palace, summers she spent with Don Juan Carlos, the then Prince Felipe and the Infantas Elena and Cristina.
It will be the only Gold Medal awarded by the Balearic Government of Marga Prohens this year, but it will not be the only distinction. The Ramon Llull Awards will also be presented that day. Among this year's notable figures are the soccer players Mariano Caldentey and Cata Coll, world champions. Also distinguished this year are the Mallorcan singer Lorenzo Santamaría, the designer Sebastià Pons and the Palma Futsal indoor soccer team.
The list of awardees is completed with the oncologist Enric Benito Oliver; marine ecologist Beatriz Morales-Nin; the hydraulics expert José Antonio Fayas Janer; the social entity Mater Misericordiae of Palma,; the Menorca Talaiótica historical complex; at the Es Baluard museum, in Palma, at the priest and historian Joan Planells Ripoll, at the Xavier Fiol gallery and, posthumously, the Mallorcan businessman Gabriel Sampol, the educator Teresa Costa Castelló and the archivist and specialist in Balearic furniture María José Massot Branches of Ayreflor.
