Speech by President of the Government at event to award Gold Medals for Merit at Work

Madam Vice-President of the Government, Madam Minister for Employment, ministers, public officials, prize-winners, and particularly the families of the prize-winners, dear friends all of you,

It is a pleasure to celebrate this ceremony to present the Gold Medals for Merit at Work. By presenting these awards, as you are aware, we are rewarding 14 people who have stood out through their talent, their brilliance and their sustained efforts in their respective fields of activity. And by awarding these medals, we acknowledge that, through their lives and their professional work they have contributed, and continue to do so, to the shared ideal of a better Spain.

That is why these medals are, above all, the best way we have to thank them for their conduct which has always been, according to the regulations that govern these awards, "socially useful and exemplary in the performance of their duties".

Ladies and gentlemen,

As you are all aware, in order to transform reality people have a great tool: work. Successes may happen without work but it is only through work that this success becomes legitimate. Moreover, work allows us to be useful, to activate our talent and to develop our life project. In short, it makes us better people.

The people we pay tribute to today are exemplary, and by being exemplary, the work of one person, as we can see in the prize-winners today, helps make a great contribution to our society and, in short, to our country. And the value that is acknowledged is both ancient and modern at the same time, and it is work.

Dear friends,

I like to say this: Spain is a great country and today I want to say that it is so because there are people, such as those gathered here today, who give the best of themselves every day to that end. Spain is, for example, a cultural powerhouse of the first order and it is so historically: we are the third leading country in the world in terms of the number of assets declared as World Heritage Sites, but also because there are people who have striven to ensure that Spain is always at the vanguard of the arts. People such as Víctor Ullate, who has done so much to make our country a benchmark in the world of dance and who, with his pedagogical and training programmes, has ensured that his art has continuity and has thus set a trend. He explained this very well here this morning.

And Soledad Lorenzo, who has contributed to our cultural standing by extending the extraordinary Spanish pictorial tradition through her work as a gallery owner. Thanks to her and thanks to her generosity, we have managed to enjoy art.
And we will continue to do so following the creation of her group of important artists, the majority of whom are our fellow countrymen and women.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today's Spain is also a country open to the world and this can be seen in our success as exporters. There are many historic reasons why the export of goods and services from Spain in 1978 were limited to 10% of the Gross Domestic Product, while today they represent 34%.

From Malaga, Federico Beltrán has contributed to this collective achievement in such a key sector as is the agri-food industry. He started back in 1970 with a modest meat company which, thanks to his commitment, has become a leading export company providing jobs, moreover, to more than 1,000 people.
Also in Andalusia, the work of Francisco Martínez-Cosentino has led to the export of Macael marble from Almeria to more than 90 countries and that Spain is synonymous with innovation in this field. As I was able to see for myself during a recent visit to the region, his creations are a masterpiece of technology and innovation that make us all enormously proud.

Dear friends,

Among the things that Spain has also started to export is a model of the creation of wealth, a social model that during the years of the crisis has shown that it is capable of maintaining jobs through alternatives to dismissals: the social economy. Juan Antonio Pedreño has dedicated his life to the social economy to become well-known and acknowledged. His entrepreneurial ability has a great deal to do with Murcia being the European capital of the social economy. But, above all, he has worked towards laying the foundations for a future in which cooperatives and social economy institutions will play a greater role.

And the people who are gathered here today confirm that there is entrepreneurial talent in Spain today. We are a country of entrepreneurs, and perhaps one of the people who has worked hardest to show this is María Benjumea. After showing us through Infoempleo that the Internet can help in looking for a job, in 2012, she turned to working towards creating networks designed to foster entrepreneurship in Spain. I have attended some of her meetings of entrepreneurs and can bear witness to a commitment and enthusiasm that are key in any walk of life and which are undoubtedly already contributing to help strengthen a genuine culture of entrepreneurship in Spain.

Ladies and gentlemen,

When talking about benchmarks in entrepreneurship, we cannot fail to mention Juan Roig, firstly as the creator of Mercadona, a success story in distribution in our country and a company that is 100% Spanish. In such a demanding sector, Juan Roig has managed to create a model of professionalism and efficiency made available to the consumer and capable of creating… Here it says 75,000 jobs, but no, there are 76,000 jobs according to what we heard this morning. 1,000 jobs can be created in a day as well. And I am obviously behind him. But, moreover, I wish to highlight his support for Spanish suppliers and the financial backing he offers by helping launch our entrepreneurs of the present and the future.

He has created an innovative, renowned work ethic, even in the workers themselves.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Another noteworthy sector for its quality and its global presence is fashion and cosmetics, which is key for our image as a country. Mariano Puig knows better than anyone how to create style and a brand. This is only right when managing such international brands as Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci and Valentino. And we must thank him today for his work which has led him to place his most emblematic creations in more than 150 countries. From Catalonia, with Spain and open to the world, he and his family have created a great flagship for our country throughout the world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The presence of the Spain Brand has also prospered wonderfully through the work undertaken by Alberto Palatchi. We now know that what began in a small workshop can, through the course of time, become a benchmark in creativity, wealth and job creation. Talent and energy have been the key to success in his case, as has been his wife, according to what we have heard here today, because, of course, that small shop in Barcelona founded in 1922 is now one of the most important companies in the complicated world of fashion, the Pronovias Group, a global leader in the sector out of Barcelona, this Spanish capital in the Mediterranean that makes us great and open to the world.

Another noteworthy benchmark when allying tradition and modernity is undoubtedly María Teresa Rodríguez Sainz-Rosas. From her roots as the owner of a biscuit factory in Aguilar de Campoo, she has found a way to expand and diversify a family business with almost 125 years of history in an exemplary manner, such that it now successfully exports to more than 80 countries.

You will allow me, as a Galician, to display my particular satisfaction at mentioning the traditional work of the 'redeiras'. Spain is one of the great fishing countries in the world and it is so as a result of the commitment of entire social communities, such as that of the 'redeiras' in the art of fishing. These women, who come from different locations in Galicia - one is missing today from Sanxenxo, but I hope that she can be here next time - have contributed to the conservation and revitalisation of a very Spanish heritage and for making our fishing fleet an international synonym of excellence and quality. These women have spent centuries working on the nets of our fishing vessels around the world and it is undoubtedly only right and fair to remember this, above all for the future, as has been mentioned here.

Dear friends,

Through the Gold Medals for Merit at Work we have also sought to acknowledge those who have worked hard on one of the most important causes in Spain today, which is precisely to improve job quality in our country. At an academic level, Alfredo Montoya Melgar, one of the great jurists in employment law - I studied Alonso Olea and the Vice-President of the Government told me that she studied Alfredo Montoya Melgar; so everything stays at home, as has been substantiated here - has devoted his life to the study and development of employment and the Social Security system in Spain, and has formed part of this great body of jurists that have made it possible for Spain to have an advanced corpus of employment law at this time, the like of which exists in very few countries in the world.

José María Fidalgo and Cándido Méndez have also undoubtedly contributed to this progress; José María Fidalgo, as the General Secretary of Comisiones Obreras from 2000 to 2008; and Cándido Méndez, at the Unión General de Trabajadores from 1994 until his retirement barely two months ago.

We are all aware of the major role given over to the trade unions under our Constitution; a role that they have known how to fulfil by bringing people together to foster social dialogue in Spain. And it is always necessary to recall that this social dialogue is a key instrument in the economic policy which, time and time again, has led to good results, even in such tough times as those you explained to us in your speech, Cándido.

And I want to thank you for your generosity and forward thinking, because the trade union organisations have also contributed to maintaining one of the finest pension systems in the world, and obviously to growth and job creation. Both of you, with your different personalities and your contrasting yet sound track-records, have worked throughout your lives and continue, as is to be expected, as people committed to the challenge of employment, in the fight against unemployment and for the rights of Spanish workers.

And from this point of view, I cannot forget to mention such milestones as the signing of the 2nd Agreement on Employment and Collective Bargaining, a cornerstone of our exit from the crisis, and also the drive given by the Strategy for Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment and the Agreement to strengthen economic growth and employment which have served so well to support various social programmes during these last few years.

Dear friends,

I will draw to a close now. People like you are called on to inspire us all, particularly the younger generations because your successes are hard fought and show that devoting our best years and our best successes to a great cause are always worthwhile. And this is indeed worthwhile because your work leaves its mark and because your work is a driver to expand talent, wealth and employment, and because through this work of yours, you contribute to a society and to a country, Spain, that today looks at you with enhanced gratitude. Work is life.

Thank you very much and congratulations.