Representatives of SURin English travelled to Alcalá de Henares to accept Spain’s top honour for services to tourism, the “Placa al Mérito Turístico”, conferred by royal decree and presented to SUR in English by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Joan Mesquida. The awards are given to those individuals or institutions whose work towards the development of tourism and support for its values in Spain are considered to be outstanding.

In October this year, the Cabinet of Ministers announced its decision that SURin English should be presented with Spain’s most important Tourism Merit award, the “Placa al Mérito Turístico”, in recognition of its services to the international community and its 25 years of support for Spanish tourism. Last week, a delegation from Prensa Malagueña and Vocento, the publishing and multimedia companies behind SURin English, travelled to Cervantes’ birthplace, Alcalá de Henares, for the ceremonial presentation of the award by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Joan Mesquida.

Almost 300 people from the world of Spanish tourism attended the event, held in the magnificent Parador. Officiating the act with the Secretary of State were Amparo Fernández, Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Antonio Bernabé, Director General of the Spanish Tourist Board, Turespaña. Accepting the award for SURin English was Jesús Alloza, CEO of Prensa Malagueña, accompanied by Liz Parry and Eve Browne, Editor and Advertising Manager respectively of SUR in English; José Antonio Frías, Editor in Chief of the SUR publications; Pedro Luis Gómez, SUR Publications Director and first manager of SUR in English, and Leopoldo Canivell, SUR’s newsroom Secretary General, and coordinator of SURin English in the early days. Iñaki Arechavaleta, Director General of Vocento, and Juan Soto, a driving force behind SURin English in its origins and currently the group’s Deputy Director General for Andalucía, were also present.

The citation for the SUR in English award specifically mentioned the newspaper’s role in informing residents and tourists, and serving as a guide for those who live here, and its importance as a link between the English-speaking and other communities in Andalucía.