The Catalan Nurses' Union has today declared its rejection of the plan to award this year's Princess of Asturias prize for Concord to health workers. The union says that accepting the prize, presided over by the Spanish royal family, would be inappropriate since the award "signifies and connects to the history of a state which represents us little and to an archaic institution".
In a statement, the organization said that Spain's Borbon monarchy, which presides over the Princess of Asturias awards, "is a long way from the principles of freedom and democracy" and possesses "rights and privileges [which are], in our opinion, undeserved." The Catalan nurses' body concluded: "We reject this prize, which does not represent us."
The union did, however, make a point of thanking the public for recognizing the work of the professionals in the public health system, as well as workers' efforts to "adapt to the lack of solid and stable directives that would have allowed an effective and efficient approach to the health crisis". It was, says the union's statement, a crisis whose arrival "sooner or later" was "foreseeable at all levels".
A few days ago, the nurses' union thanked the Catalan Parliament for awarding its Gold Medal to professionals in the sector for their fight against Covid-19. However, in that case as well, the union also replied with a strong criticism of the way the health sector and nursing professionals are treated by the institutions. Awards and public thanks, said the union, must be accompanied by necessary actions and provision of resources.