The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, presided over the presentation of the second edition of these awards.
Argentine writer and poet Alejandro Guillermo Roemmers received the “Madrid, Capital of Ibero-America” award in the Cultural Initiative category this Thursday. The distinction recognizes his literary career and his contribution to strengthening cultural ties between Spain and Ibero-America.
The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, presided over the presentation of the second edition of these awards, organized by the Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America (CEAPI) and Madrid City Council. The ceremony, held at the Pavilion of the Cecilio Rodríguez Gardens in El Retiro, brought together institutional, business and cultural representatives.
Roemmers focused his speech on the value of Spanish as a shared heritage and on literature’s ability to bring diverse societies closer together. The author argued that language, in addition to being a means of communication, makes it possible to pass on experiences and preserve collective memory.
“Our language does not belong exclusively to one country or to a single tradition. It is a living heritage, built over centuries by millions of speakers and enriched by the diversity of our accents, our cultures and our experiences,” he said.
The writer also recalled his connection with Madrid, where he spent part of his youth and strengthened his literary vocation. “A decisive stage of my youth took place here: here I studied, made friends and began to discover, with the intensity typical of those years, everything that literature could mean in my life,” he stated.
That relationship with Spain is reflected in his work. His poetry collections include Dreamers, Dream, Fleeting Anchor and Spain in Me, the latter tied to his personal and cultural experience in the country. His writing explores human feelings, memory, hope and the search for meaning.
Roemmers is also the author of The Return of the Young Prince, translated into 32 languages. The book revisits the literary universe of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to reflect on love, solidarity and human relationships.
During the ceremony, the author thanked CEAPI president Núria Vilanova and Madrid City Council for the recognition. He also congratulated the other two award winners of this edition: Carlos Vargas, honored for his contribution to business ties between the two continents, and Miguel Henrique Otero, recognized for his defense of independent journalism and freedom of expression.
The writer highlighted the personal significance of receiving the award in Madrid and championed the city as a meeting place between Spain and Latin America. “Words can build walls, but they can also build bridges; they can divide us, but they can also help us understand one another,” he stated.
