The Government has agreed today to award the Creu de Sant Jordi to a total of 20 personalities and 10 entities, including the duo Estopa, the actress Carme Elias, the clown Tortell Poltrona, the former basketball player Laia Palau, the photographer Hisao Suzuki , at the Teatre del Liceu, the Compañía Elèctrica Dharma, the activist Fàtima Ahmed and the Laborataris Hipra, which from its headquarters in Amer (Girona) is investigating a new vaccine against covid.
As has happened in recent years, the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, has suggested names and entities respecting gender parity. Likewise, she has tried to take into account the diversity of fields in which the award-winning personalities work, as well as territorial representation. The Creu de Sant Jordi will be delivered on July 11 at the Teatre Monumental de Mataró.
The Creu de Sant Jordi is a distinction created in 1981 and is awarded to all those people who have provided their services to highlight the identity of Catalonia, especially in the cultural and civic spheres. Regarding Estopa, the Government of the Generalitat highlights that it is the "Catalan group that has sold the most records" and the popularity of its songs "with themes deeply rooted in everyday life" with influences from pop, flamenco and Catalan rumba. For the Catalan Executive, the musical duo, formed by the brothers from Cornellà de Llobregat, David and José Manuel Muñoz, continues to be a benchmark for several generations of Catalans. Estopa has published almost a dozen albums throughout his career.
Regarding Laborat0ris Hipra, the Generalitat values its fight to develop a vaccine against the Sars-Covid2 virus "and its commitment to public health". Hipra is headquartered in Amer, in addition to subsidiaries in several countries in Europe, Asia and Africa and has 2,500 employees. The Government recognizes his work to combat the pandemic of a laboratory that before this disease developed its activity in the field of veterinary vaccines. Hipra's covid vaccine is currently in the last phase of study.
Of Ahmed, the Executive of Pere Aragonès values his contribution to the world of Catalan associations "among migrant people" and the integration in Catalonia of women's groups, especially Muslims. Another activist profile awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi is Maria Olivares. The Generalitat highlights from this teacher and her policy her commitment to the anti-Francoist struggle and her affiliation to the feminist movement. Olivares has also been recognized for her fight for equality between women and men.
Another personality who has been awarded this distinction is Jaume Mateu Bullich, Tortell Poltrona. "For his valuable contribution to the world of the circus, with the creation of the Circo Cric, an outstanding reference for several generations, and for the renewal of the language of the classic clown", justifies the Generalitat. Of the former basketball player Laia Palau, the Government ensures that she is a benchmark, since with twelve medals she is the most successful basketball player in "the history of Catalonia". Palau has two Euroleague titles to her name, fourteen league titles and was named the best player in Europe in 2005. She is currently part of the Uni Girona base basketball.
In addition to all of them, the Catalan language teacher Maria Carme Cardó, the artist Mari Chordà, the record producer Joan Carles Doval, the teacher and performer Rosa Maria Duran, the writer Josep Espunyes, the physicist María del Carmen Llasat, the muralist Josep Minguell, the countryman Lluís Parés, the engineer Jordi Puig Suari, the sociolinguist Miquel Strubell (posthumously), the physicist Lluís Torner, the economist Carme Trilla, the pastor Marina Vilalta and the plastic artist Andreu Vilasís.
The other entities that will also receive the Creu de Sant Jordi this 2022 are the Associació Colla de Castellers els Bordegassos de Vilanova, El Círcol de Reus, the Associació pel Drets Sexuales y Reproductiu, the Associació Societat Cultural i Esportiva La Lira, la Joventut de la Faràndula and the Orfeó Vigatà.
