On October 7, 2026, María Guardiola, the president of the Junta de Extremadura, attended the III Edition of the Hispanic Influence Awards in Madrid, held at the Sala Roja Concha Velasco of the Teatros del Canal. During the event, she highlighted the significance of Hispanic influence and championed mestizaje as a representation of the connections between Extremadura and America.
Guardiola presented Edmundo González with the Defense of Freedom Award, acknowledging his commitment to democracy. She quoted González's remarks made in Strasbourg, where he stated, "It is much easier to lose democracy than to recover it." Following this, she expressed her appreciation for the other award recipients, who she said represent an influence "capable of changing our frameworks and gifting us new perspectives." Among the notable figures and institutions honored at the awards were Silvia Tcherassi, Sara García Alonso, Julio Velarde, The Reynolds Foundation, Amalia Ortuño, Hombres G, Erika Ender, Carmen Posadas, Álex de la Iglesia, Daniel Illescas, Ibai Llanos, Real Madrid, Happy Robot, Sandro Silva, and Edwing Rodríguez.
Influence as a Bridge
Guardiola stated, "To influence is to express oneself, to open up, to seek empathy, closeness, and humanity," emphasizing that influence serves as a bridge between people and a means to contribute to world transformation. She encouraged those wishing to share their ideas to do so "without fear," asserting that "to express oneself also means to listen, to seek empathy, and to accept that one's own ideas can be transformed through contact with other perspectives." This attitude aligns with her vision of an open and mature society capable of debating and disagreeing without turning differences into exclusion.
Extremadura and America
Guardiola took the opportunity of the awards ceremony to convey the shared history between Extremadura and America, explaining the importance of mestizaje in the identity of Extremadura. She emphasized that this relationship should not be viewed as a one-way process: "It was a round trip. Thousands of Extremadurans crossed the Atlantic. But America also crossed the ocean and reached us," she explained. From this encounter, she noted, mestizaje emerges: "We influence each other. We mix. We learn. And from this encounter, something new is born." This concept underpins Extremestiza, a strategy promoted by the Junta de Extremadura to work on this shared history and project it into the future across cultural, educational, and social domains.
"Extremadura is a mestizo land. A land that does not dwell in nostalgia but always moves forward. It seeks to reclaim that shared history to build new cultural, educational, business, and human relationships," she added. In closing her remarks, Guardiola advocated for the need to recover spaces for dialogue, to speak without fear, and to work on what unites society.
