Three reasons have brought Queen Sofía to Houston (Texas): to preside over the award ceremony of the Queen Sophia Spanish Institute, which for the first time leaves New York to be held in the Texan capital; attend the presentation ceremony of the Hispanic History Portal, the Royal Academy of History and support the Spain Fusion Texas 2023 gastronomic contest, which this week will tour the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston, with product demonstrations and tastings Spanish aimed at importers, distributors, merchants, cooks and hospitality entrepreneurs from the United States.
The King's mother arrived in Texas last Sunday and this Monday, before starting the activities on her agenda, she visited the Houston Food Bank, the largest capacity bank in the world that cares for vulnerable people in the zone. Queen Sofia is the honorary president of the federation of food banks in Spain and, through her foundation, provides funds for logistical improvements and the purchase of food. Throughout the year, Queen Sofía visits the different bank centers in Spain, as she recently did with the Gipuzkoa headquarters.
In the afternoon, the King's mother attended the first day of the Spain Fusion Texas contest, a contest of tastings and meetings with the main exporters of wine, olive oil, cheese, Iberian ham and more from Spain, with demonstrations by chef Danny He brought from Washington D.C.'s Michelin-starred restaurant Xiquet, chef Mat Schuster of San Francisco's Canela Bistró, and chef Periko Ortega of ReComiendo in Córdoba, Spain.
On Tuesday afternoon, early in the morning in Spain, Queen Sofía attended the presentation in Houston of the Hispanic History Portal, an initiative of the Royal Academy of History whose launch in Madrid was attended by the King and Queen. It is the world's most extensive database of historical figures and events throughout Hispanic history, which adds up to 20,000 historically significant facts from 1,350,000 B.C. at the moment. En portal is especially useful in the United States, whose history, despite being directly linked to that of Spain, has relegated the Hispanic heritage behind the Anglo-Saxon.
The presentation was attended by the Spanish ambassador to the United States, Santiago Cabanas, and the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, who highlighted the "presence and contributions" of the Spanish community in the city: "They can be felt in all sectors, including the oil and gas, medicine, aviation, culinary industry and more"
Before returning to Spain, Queen Sofía will preside over the delivery of the Excellence Awards, granted by the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute and, for the first time, they leave their headquarters in New York to be delivered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. This year's awards have been given to the American singer, of Cuban origin, Gloria Estefan and her husband and producer, Emilio Estefan, as well as to Mary Carmen Ramírez, curator of the Wortham Museum of Latin American Art and founding director of the International Center for Art. of the Americas; and Ignacio Torras, founder and CEO of Tricon Energy and owner of the Spanish restaurants MAD and BCN Taste
