The title of Hijo Predilecto de Andalucía ("Favorite Son of Andalusia") or in the case of a female recipient Hija Predilecta de Andalucía ("Favorite Daughter of Andalusia") is an honorific title granted annually on August 10 according to decree 156/1983 of the

Andalusian Autonomous Government The Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Junta de Andalucía) is the government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Regional Government and the Government Council. The 2011 budget was 31. ...

, recognizing exceptional merit or distinction in relation to the Andalusian region, through scientific, social or political actions or works that have redounded to the benefit of Andalusia. It is the highest distinction of the autonomous community of Andalusia.

The nature of the honor

The honor is granted by agreement of the Governing Council of the Andalusian Autonomous Government, based on names proposed by the President of the Government, passed on by the president's office, the Consejería de la Presidencia. The title is strictly honorific, and does not entail any award of money. The names of those given the title are written in a registry known as the '' Libro de Oro de Andalucía'' ("Golden Book of Andalusia"). A medal is awarded with the inscription ''Hijo Predilecto de Andalucía'', along with a silver plaque stating the reason for granting the award in this particular case. Normally at most ten medals are awarded each year, although the Governing Council may make exceptions to that. (In practice, as of 2009 that number has never been reached.) That count does not include awards given as a courtesy or in reciprocity, nor does it include posthumous awards. The honor is awarded in a public and solemn ceremony presided over by the President of the Government, in the presence of the Governing Council, and if possible coinciding with the regional holiday, the

Andalusia Day The Andalusia Day ( es, Día de Andalucía) is celebrated in 28 February and commemorates the 28 February 1980 referendum on the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia, in which the Andalusian electorate voted for the statute that made Andalusia an auto ...

, 28 February. The honor can be revoked if the recipient behaves publicly in a manner counter to the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, the principles of the

1978 Constitution of Spain The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...

or the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia, or prejudicial to the dignity of their basic interests.

List of Hijos Predilectos de Andalucía

* 1983 : Antonio Cruz García (" Antonio Mairena"), singer,

Mairena del Alcor Mairena del Alcor is a city located in the province of Seville, Spain. According to the 2020 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term i ...

Province of Seville The Province of Seville ( es, Sevilla) is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and C ...

: Rafael Alberti, writer,

El Puerto de Santa María EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

, Cádiz : Vicente Aleixandre Merlo, writer, Seville : Jorge Guillén Álvarez, writer, Valladolid : Andrés Segovia, guitarist, Linares, Jaén : Ramón Carande y Thovar, historian and economist, Palencia, autonomous community of Castile-Leon * 1984 : Juan Álvarez Ossorio y Barrau, historian, activist * 1985 : Rafael Escuredo Rodríguez, lawyer and politician,

Estepa Estepa is a municipality in the extreme south-east of the province of Seville. It had a population of 12.631 in 2013. The town is located north of the Sierra del Becerro mountains. History Estepa possesses a very ancient past and has well-preserv ...

, Seville : María Zambrano Alarcón, writer,

Vélez-Málaga Vélez-Málaga () is a municipality and the capital of the Axarquía comarca in the province of Málaga, in the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the most important city in the comarca. Locally it is referred to as Vélez. Vélez- ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

: Antonio Gala Velasco, writer,

Brazatortas Brazatortas is a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English ...

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

Carlos Castilla del Pino Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

, psychiatrist, San Roque, Cádiz :

Antonio Domínguez Ortiz Antonio Domínguez Ortiz (October 18, 1909 – January 21, 2003) was a Spanish historian, one of the leading specialists in the history of the Spanish Antiguo Régimen of the 16th through 18th centuries, in particular in social history. He was al ...

, historian, Seville * 1987 : José Antonio Valverde Gómez, zoologist : Manuel Andújar, escritor,

La Carolina La Carolina is a Municipalities of Spain, city and municipality located in the Province of Jaén (Spain), province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 15,808 inhabitants. History La Carolina was fo ...

, Jaén : Juan de Mata Carriazo * 1988 :

Emilio García Gómez Emilio García Gómez, 1st Count of Alixares (4 June 1905 – 31 May 1995) was a Spanish Arabist, literary historian and critic, whose talent as a poet enriched his many translations from Arabic. Life Emilio García Gómez decided to pursue ...

, historian specializing in Arabism, Madrid : Manuel Castillo Navarro, composer and pianist, Seville : Manuel Rivera Hernández, painter,

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

: Pablo García Baena, poet, Córdoba :

José Manuel Rodríguez Delgado José Manuel Rodríguez Delgado (August 8, 1915 – September 15, 2011) was a Spanish professor of neurophysiology at Yale University, famed for his research on mind control through electrical stimulation of the brain. Horgan, J. (2017). Tri ...

, physician and neurophysiologist,

* 1989 : Rafael Montesinos Martínez, poet, Seville, Seville : José Muñoz Caballero, painter, Huelva :

Luis Rosales Camacho Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

, poet, Granada, Granada * 1990 : Javier Benjumea Puigcerver, businessman, founder of Abengoa, Seville :Dolores Jiménez Alcántara " Niña de La Puebla", singer,

La Puebla de Cazalla La Puebla de Cazalla is a city located in the province of Seville, Spain. According to the 2018 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de ...

, Seville : Francisco Ayala y García Duarte, writer, Granada, Granada * 1991 : José Rodríguez de la Borbolla y Camoyán, lawyer and politician, Seville, Seville * 1992 :

José Antonio Muñoz Rojas José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, poet,

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central locat ...

, Málaga, Málaga * 1993 : Manuel Losada Villasante, scientist,

Carmona Carmona may refer to: Places Angola * the former name of the town of Uíge Costa Rica * Carmona District, Nandayure, a district in Guanacaste Province India * Carmona, Goa, a village located in the Salcette district of South Goa, India ...

, Seville * 1994 :S.A.R. Doña

María de las Mercedes de Borbón y Orleans Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, mother of the King Juan Carlos, Madrid * 1995 : Miguel Rodríguez-Piñero Bravo-Ferrer, jurist, professor, magistrate and president of the

Constitutional Court of Spain The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...

, Seville, Seville * 1996 :

José Manuel Caballero Bonald José Manuel Caballero Bonald (November 11, 1926 – May 9, 2021) was a Spanish novelist, lecturer and poet. Early life Caballero was born in Calle Caballeros, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. His father was Plácido Caballero, a Cuban whose mother ...

, poet and essayist, Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Cádiz * 1997 :No award given. * 1998 :

Felipe González Márquez Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy ...

, lawyer and politician, Dos Hermanas, Seville, Seville * 1999 : Manuel F. Clavero Arévalo, lawyer and politician, Seville, Seville * 2000 :

Carlos Amigo Vallejo Carlos Amigo Vallejo, O.F.M. (23 August 1934 – 27 April 2022) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Seville from 1982 to 2009. He was made a cardinal in 2003. He was archbishop of Tangier in Morocco from 19 ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Seville,

Medina de Rioseco Medina de Rioseco is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León and Spain. According to a 2011 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 4,967 inhabitants. The city also has th ...

, Valladolid * 2001 :, songwriter, Granada, Granada. (Posthumous.) :

Pedro Cruz Villalón Pedro Cruz Villalón (born 25 May 1946) is a Spanish jurist who served as an Advocate General at the European Court of Justice. He was chief justice of the Constitutional Court of Spain The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) ...

, president of the

, Seville, Seville * 2002 :

Manuel Jiménez de Parga Manuel Jiménez de Parga y Cabrera (9 April 1929 – 7 May 2014) was a Spanish lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was president of the Constitutional Court of Spain between 2001 and 2004. He was professor in charge of the department of political ...

, president of the Tribunal Constitucional, Granada, Granada * 2003 : Emilio Lledó Íñigo, professor of philosophy, Seville, Seville : Christine Ruiz-Picasso, daughter-in-law of Pablo Picasso, philanthropist, Paris, France * 2004 : Francisco Márquez Villanueva, professor of medieval literature, Seville, Seville :

Leopoldo de Luis Leopoldo is a given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese form of the English, German, Dutch, Polish, and Slovene name, Leopold. Notable people with the name include: *Leopoldo de' Medici (1617–1675), Italian cardinal and Governor of ...

, poet, Córdoba, Córdoba * 2005 : María Victoria Atencia García, poet, Málaga, Málaga : Julia Uceda Valiente, poet, literary critic, and professor of literature, Seville, Seville * 2006 : María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th

Duchess of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by ...

, (Madrid) :

Carlos Edmundo de Ory Carlos Edmundo de Ory (April 27, 1923 – November 11, 2010), born in the Spanish city of Cadiz, was a Spanish avant-garde poet. He was a son of Eduardo de Ory, who was a modernist poet and founder of the ''Academia Hispanoamericana de Cádiz'' ( ...

, poet, Cádiz, Cádiz * 2007 : José Saramago, writer, Azinhaga, Portugal * 2008 : Federico Mayor Zaragoza, former rector of the

University of Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apar ...

, former director general of UNESCO. Barcelona, autonomous community of Catalonia * 2009 : Juan Antonio Carrillo Salcedo, Doctor of Laws at the University of Seville, expert in international law, Morón de la Frontera, Seville * 2013 :

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

, actor :, syndicalist (posthumous) : Carmen Laffón de la Escosura, painter *2017 Hijos Predilectos : María Galiana :

Luis García Montero Luis García Montero (born 4 December 1958) is a Spanish poet and literary critic, as well as a professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Granada. Biography Descended from a '' granadino'' family that was very active in the commun ...

2018 : José Luis Gómez García :Guillermo Antiñolo Gil

Acceptance speeches

Most of the recipients of the award come with a prepared acceptance speech. Politician Felipe González broke somewhat with this tradition in 1998 when he gave part of his speech extemporaneously; writer José Saramago in 2007 gave an entirely improvised speech. During his speech his medal fell to the floor and he had to stoop to recover it. He then continued, "This could be resolved with a Latin proverb, '' Sic transit gloria mundi'', which gained him a round of applause.Videos of 28 February 2007
, official site of the

Notes

External links

Hijos Predilectos de Andalucía
official list.

the law creating the honor. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hijo Predilecto De Andalucia Andalusian culture Spanish awards