The Galician government has launched the IV Ramón Otero Pedrayo podcast awards to encourage the use of the Galician language among younger generations. The initiative aims to promote oratory skills through projects from schools in Ourense, as part of the Ano Oteriano programming.
During the awards ceremony held at the Casa Museo de Trasalba, Valentín García, the Secretary General of Language, emphasised the significance of the competition and the high quality of the winning entries. He stated, "This demonstrates that the Galician language is a modern, relevant, and entirely valid tool for new forms of communication among young people, such as podcasts."
García reiterated the Galician government's commitment to initiatives that enhance the prestige of the language on platforms frequented by youth, in line with the recently approved Plan xeral de normalización da lingua galega. This plan received broad support from the Galician Parliament earlier this month.
The IV Ramón Otero Pedrayo podcast awards featured three winning projects. The first prize was awarded to "Ave Pedrayo II" from the Santa Teresa de Jesús-Carmelitas school in Ourense. The second prize went to the Don Ramón project from the institute named after the patriarch of Galician letters, also in Ourense, while the third prize was awarded to Samuel Barreiro Pérez from the María Auxiliadora school in the city.
This competition, organised by the Asociación de Amigos de Otero Pedrayo in collaboration with the Galician Language Secretariat, the agricultural cooperative Coren, and the Otero Pedrayo Foundation, is aimed at Galician students aged 15 to 25. It offers a total prize fund of €3,000, distributed across three categories, along with various gifts for the winners.
Participants were encouraged to focus their podcasts on themes related to the Oterian universe, including natural environments, sustainability, heritage, history, geography, ethnography, oral communication, and oral tradition.
