Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, aided by her grandaughter Rossio, receives medals from
the King and Queen of Spain. @OmaraPortuondo Photo.

Havana, Cuba, June 26 (RHC)—This week Cuban singer Omara Portuondo was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, in a ceremony presided over by the King and Queen of Spain.

The ceremony took place Wednesday at  El Pardo Royal Palace in  Madrid.

Other recipients of the Medal were singers Maria Bethania, Martirio, Ruben Blades, and Gilberto Gil, who along with the Buena Vista Social Club diva were, as the Spanish Ministry of Culture points out, recognized for the effort and courage of cultural professionals especially in such a difficult time for all.

During the ceremony, King Felipe V invited the audience not to forget the value of culture, its incalculable contribution to societies, and what it meant to overcome the hardest months of the necessary confinement to stop the COVID-19.

Omara Portuondo was born on October 29, 1930, in Havana and has received numerous awards inside and outside Cuba, including the Saint Bois City Hall Award in France, the Latin Recording Academy Award for Musical Excellence, and was named International Ambassador of the International Red Cross in 2004.