Miguel A. Torres, presidente de Bodegas Torres, receives the price.
The Diplomat. 31/01/2016
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo, presented the Sixth Fundación Consejo España-China prizes on Friday in the Palacio de Viana, to the Spanish company Bodegas Torres and the Hispanist Chen Zhongyi, Director of the Institute of Foreign Languages at the Chines Academy of Social Sciences.
The awards are an acknowledgement of the work by those individuals, institutions and companies that make a particularly significant contribution to strengthening relations between Spain and the Peoples Republic of China in whatsoever ambit.
García-Margallo presented the award to Miguel A. Torres, President of Bodegas Torres, a company that first launched its foray into China in the decade of the nineties and, nowadays, has 300 employees there, and which contributes 10 percent of its turnover.
The award to Professor Chen Zhongyi, who is a Spanish literature scholar and who has translated some of the greatest writers in the Spanish language, such as Borges and García-Márquez, was received by Taciana Fisac, Director of the Centro de Estudios de Asia Oriental at the Universidad Autonoma in Madrid. Chen Zhongyi was unable to travel to Madrid but sent a message expressing his appreciation for the prize.
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Margallo predicts a rise in tourists following expansion of facilities for visa applications
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The ceremony was also attended by the President of the Foundation, Juan Lladó, who emphasised the merits of the prizewinners, and it concluded with a few words by the Minister. García-Margallo described Bodegas Torres as one of the most outstanding Marca España ambassadors in China, and thanked Chen Zhongyi for his passion and devotion to Spanish literature and culture.
The Minister referred to the economic and cultural links between Spain and China and, among other data, highlighted the increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Spain which, although it continued to be a small number, has led to a 47 percent rise in 2015 in requests for visas in Spanish consulates in China. He added that it was to be hoped that this trend would increase even more in the near future, as a result of the recent Chinese authorisation to open twelve centres for visa application in the country.
The Prizes are part of the different activities promoted by the Foundation in order to build bridges between Spain and China.
