Leo Messi has been awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports 2026. The Argentine footballer, who currently plays for Inter Miami, will receive the award on October 23 at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo. The jury – chaired by swimmer Teresa Perales – has highlighted his "exceptional sporting career" and his solidarity in "promoting access to education and healthcare for the most disadvantaged children". The former Barça star has won 47 titles, including four Champions Leagues, ten Spanish leagues, and the World Cup achieved with Argentina in 2022.

For the jury of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, Eduardo Mendoza (Barcelona, ​​​​1943) is "a provider of happiness." This Friday, Mendoza himself acknowledged during the award ceremony in Oviedo that it is "the best compliment" he has ever received. The writer's acceptance speech was an example of the humor that characterizes many of his novels. "For me, this award has been a surprise, an honor, a joy, and an incentive, because if I don't look in the mirror, I still consider myself a promising young Spanish writer," Mendoza stated during the speech. "The last thing that is lost in life is not hope but vanity," he emphasized. Among the thanks, he remembered his friends, teachers, and the people he loves, and his readers, the latter for "their loyalty, complicity, and affection." "If I have given them any happiness, they have returned it to me in spades," he said.

Surprises can come from the most unlikely places: Eduardo Mendoza (Barcelona, ​​1943) received the news that he had been awarded the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature at the doctor's office, and a few hours later he received the media at the Jaume Fuster Library, suffering from a growing hoarseness. "I'm going to answer briefly and with ups and downs," warned Mendoza, although he was generous with his responses and patiently faced the "guerilla firing squad" of photographers. Among the 24 candidates from 16 nationalities vying for the award, the jury highlighted Mendoza's literary contribution, with "a set of novels that combine his desire for innovation with the ability to reach a very wide audience, and that enjoy widespread international recognition." "The award has, above all, a great effect of satisfaction, to think that just fifty years after publishing the first novel [The truth about the Savolta case] I haven't been sent to the room of bad toilets yet, and that's very nice," Mendoza said. "I've dedicated my whole life to doing what I like most, which is writing and being lazy, and in the end they've rewarded me in this way," he stressed. is a "provider of happiness." Regarding the role of humor in his work, he explained that after publishing his first serious novel, albeit with touches of humor, he opened "a branch exclusively dedicated to humor." The important thing about humor is not to lower the bar. You have to be respectful of the reader," he said.