In the small parishes of Asturiasto be distinguished with the Exemplary People award which grants every year the Princess of Asturias Foundation It is an honor and an opportunity. Because the day that the Heiress spends in the town on duty gives almost all the neighbors the opportunity to, at the very least, shake her hand. Many can also tell you what they do and even get a selfie.
This year, the Exemplary Town was awarded to the parishes of Arroes, Pion y Candanalin Villaviciosa. He arrived there by car. Royal family at eleven thirty in the morning and prepared for the intense day. There are three neighboring parishes with a total of 1,029 inhabitants and their population increased by 11% as a result of the Covid. The majority of the residents live from agricultural and agri-food activities. Along the road you can see large areas of orchards and cows, numerous beef cows, since the crisis in the dairy sector has caused towns with a tradition of dairy cows to change their farms to beef ones.
The Royal Family, dressed in jeans and sneakers, shook more than half a thousand hands and learned about the most typical things from the area. By coincidence, it was International Apple Day and the Royal Family visited an orchard and learned the process to make cider, the most precious apple juice. Queen Letizia knows how to pour, something that schoolchildren learn on numerous visits to Asturian towns, and that she internalized during her childhood. The wife of Felipe VI already knew this area of the Principality, but not the King, nor the Princess and the Infanta, which was the first time they went to Villaviciosa.
The Royal Family has seen a typical agri-food market, where the Queen chose some handmade earrings that she hung in her ears, and they were given a basket with local vegetables. A folk group performed the syringe, typical Asturian dance that is danced in pairs. There was no shortage of bagpipes, because this is the land of the master bagpiper Ramon Garcia Tuero, to whom they paid tribute. With neighbors almost at every corner of the route, the Royal Family worked hard to please everyone. In fact, a girl stayed chatting with Princess Leonor, to whom she gave a necklace with photos. “You are the example that a village is also a good place for technological and social innovation. And because in the three parishes you have known how to share values, concerns and cultural and family ties to continue building a more favorable environment and a better future,” highlighted the Princess during the institutional event, which was held in Arroes. There, the King also highlighted the area as “an example of how small communities treasure fundamental values for the progress of society: respect for the environment, the harmony between tradition and sustainable development and neighborhood cooperation, through exchange of experiences and knowledge”.
“You are the symbol,” continued the King, “of the virtues with which you can build a dynamic life. By understanding that it is only possible to do so by respecting and taking care of the best of the past.”