Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 14 Mar. (Europa Press) –
The jurors for the 2025 Canary Awards have selected the recipients across the three categories of this year’s edition: literature, sport, and popular culture.
Consequently, they have recommended to Fernando Clavijo, the president of the Canary Islands, to bestow this year’s awards upon Juan Jesús Armas (Literature), Michelle Alonso (Sport), and the Centre for Canarian Popular Culture (CCPC) (Popular Culture).
Clavijo personally informed the awardees and winners about the decision made by the jurors across the three disciplines.
He underscored the importance of acknowledging the winners’ achievements both within and beyond the Canary Islands and noted that the awards will be presented during the Institutional Act of Canary Islands Day on 30 May.
Canary Islands Literature Award 2025
Juan Jesús Armas Marcelo is a novelist, essayist, and journalist from Spain, who frequently collaborates with newspapers and magazines. He holds a degree in classical philology and literatures from the Complutense University of Madrid.
He has been invited by numerous universities worldwide, as well as the Cervantes Institute, to deliver lectures on topics such as miscegenation, the Spanish language on a global scale, the literatures of the Spanish language in Spain and America, the Canary Islands as a synthesis of America and Spain, and his own literary works.
Much of his professional focus has been dedicated to writing novels, articles, and literary essays.
In 2009, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Canary Islands, and in 2011 he became an academic member of the Royal Hispano-American Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters based in Cádiz. A year later, in 2012, he was appointed a member of the Institute of Canary Studies in the fields of literature and journalism.
He has also served as a juror for the Cervantes Award and was part of the jury for the Prince of Asturias Award for Letters.
Currently, he is the director of the Vargas Llosa International Chair and was the initiator of the ‘Hispanic American Writers’ festival, which is held annually in the Llanos de Aridane in La Palma.
Canary Islands Sports Award 2025
Michelle Alonso Morales is an athlete competing in adapted swimming.
Her achievements include winning three gold medals at the London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in the 100 metres category for SB14.
Moreover, the Canarian swimmer has garnered over 130 medals across various competitions.
In 2013, she received the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit from the Higher Sports Council and was the flagbearer for the Spanish team during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
In 2022, she officially announced her retirement from high-level competition, and in 2024, she was awarded the gold medal by the Insular Cabildo of Tenerife.
Popular Culture Canary Islands 2025
The Centre for Canarian Popular Culture (CCPC) was established in 1977 in San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Tenerife.
Since its inception, the CCPC has been defined as an independent cultural movement with primary goals of enhancing culture across the archipelago and developing Canarian cultural identity.
Over the past 47 years, it has played a vital role in reinforcing Canarian identity, promoting the unity of the Canary Islands through culture and collective memory. In 1980, it published its first book and initiated its record label.
Among the various initiatives undertaken by the CCPC are cultural cycles, cultural congresses in the Canary Islands, meetings on Canarian popular culture, major festivals, and other special productions, including the Sabandeño festival, which has been organised for 29 editions in collaboration with groups from Latin America and Europe.
As a cultural event producer, it has organised tours featuring international artists, along with tours of Canarian artists both abroad and across the archipelago.
The CCPC possesses a publishing house and a record label, boasting a catalogue of over 900 books and nearly 300 published works, and it also oversees a bookstore and the radio station San Borondón.
Its collections include classic films in Super 8MM and a photographic archive.
In 1999, it won the National Folklore Award, as noted by the Canarian Executive.
Jurors
The Literature Jury for the Canary Islands 2025 comprises Elsa López (Canary Islands, 2022), Ángel Sánchez (Canary Islands, 2018), Juan Manuel García Ramos (Canary Islands, 2006), Carmen Márquez, Carmen del Puerto, Guadalupe Martín, and Jonathan Allen.
The Sports Jury for the Canary Islands 2025 includes Andrés Orozco from the Real Club Náutico de Tenerife (Canary Islands Award), Maica López from the Real Nautico Club of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands Award, 2000), Sergio Rodríguez (Canary Islands Award, 2018), Carla Suárez (Canary Islands Award, 2021), Enhamed Mohamed, Marta Mangué, and Romina Lamas.
Regarding the Popular Culture Jury for the 2025 Canary Awards, it consists of Elfidio Alonso (son) (Canarias Award, 1997), Juan Carlos Jiménez de los Gofiones (Canary Islands, 2018), Manuel Lorenzo (Canary Islands, 2022), Ancor Suárez from the Community Development Project of the village of San Nicolás (Canary Islands, 2003), Mayte Henríquez, Milagos Luis, and Rosario Sardinia.
