EL PAÍS celebrates its 40th anniversary in a ceremony presided over by the King and Queen

• The King, in his speech, praised EL PAÍS for undertaking digital transformation without betraying its principles of "quality, modernity and excellence"

• The ceremony also saw the presentation of the Ortega y Gasset Awards for Journalism, which went to the best work published in Spanish in 2015 

EL PAÍS celebrated on Thursday 40 years in the service of democracy, freedom and its more than 18 million readers worldwide. The event also saw the presentation of the Ortega y Gasset Awards for Journalism, now in their 33rd edition, during an emotional ceremony – presided over by the King and Queen – which paid tribute to the newspaper’s commitment to the modernization of Spain over these four decades.

The King presented the awards to the winners  – Joseph Zárate, Lilia Saúl, Ginna Morelo, Samuel Aranda and Adam Michnik – alongside Queen Letizia and Juan Luis Cebrián, the first editor-in-chief of El País and current chair of the newspaper and PRISA group. King Felipe VI said that the newspaper has been "witness and and has spoken eloquently of the great events and changes experienced by our society in recent decades". The King recalled the founders of the newspaper (José Ortega Spottorno, Jesús Polanco and Juan Luis Cebrián), and thanked the newspaper for its efforts to promote the project "with all the professional, intellectual and social commitment that it deserves and that characterizes it. "

The Constitution took center stage in Cebrián’s speech, in which he stressed that despite circumstantial shortcomings, remains the legal and political guarantor of freedom for all citizens.  “Since its birth, El País has contributed, sometimes heatedly, to the debate on this charter of our coexistence, and whenever it has been threatened by sectarian and  irrational violence of a coup or terrorism, our newspaper has not hesitated to stand up in defense of the values it represents, values that are non renounceable for us,” he said

The event, a true celebration of free and independent journalism, was attended by some 400 guests, including prominent figures from the worlds of politics, business and culture, as well as senior executives and directors from El País and PRISA.

The attendees included the acting Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría; the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena; Speaker of the Congress, Patxi López; the Ministers of Economy, Interior, Public Works, Health and Foreign Affairs, Luis de Guindos, Jorge Fernández Díaz, Ana Pastor, Alfonso Alonso and José Manuel García-Margallo, respectively, and the leaders of PSOE, Pedro Sánchez; Podemos, Pablo Iglesias; Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera, and Izquierda Unida, Alberto Garzón. They were joined by regional leaders, including Susana Díaz, and heads of a wide range of institutions. Other guests included the singers Victor Manuel, Ana Belén, Miguel Ríos, José Mercé and Silvia Pérez Cruz, who treated the audience to four songs; actress Elena Anaya and writer Juan José Millás, members of the jury for this year’s awards; journalists Iñaki Gabilondo, Pepa Bueno, Angels Barceló, Montserrat Domínguez and Pepa Fernández; bullfighter Cayetano Rivera; philosophers Adela Cortina (also a jury member) and Fernando Savater; writers Elvira Lindo, Rosa Montero and Javier Marías, in addition to CEOs and presidents of major companies such as Rafael del Pino (Ferrovial), Ángel Ron (Banco Popular), Ignacio Sánchez Galán (Iberdrola), Pablo Isla (Inditex) and Alicia Koplowitz (Omega Capital). 

The gala event, held at the Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid, featured the actress Cayetana Guillén Cuervo as master of ceremonies, and honored journalism of resistance and paid tribute to the drama and courage represented by this year’s winning entries by committed journalists who have ventured onto the ground to tell the world of a reality all too often ignored. The tragedy of refugees in Europe fleeing the war in Syria, the investigation into the 50,000 missing persons in Mexico and Colombia and the story of the struggle of a Peruvian peasant against a powerful mining company each earned the recognition of the jury, which lauded the lifetime career and honesty of Polish journalist Adam Michnik, founder and director of Gazeta Wyborcza, for his defense of democracy and championing of freedom of expression in his country.