The Court awards the City's Gold Medals and names Pilar Juncosa and Caty Juan del Corral as Illustrious Daughters

PalmThe Palma City Council presented the 2025 Gold Medals of the City and named Pilar Juncosa Iglesias and Caty Juan del Corral as Distinguished Daughters of the City this Wednesday, as part of the official events of the Standard Festival. The ceremony, held at the City Hall, recognized the achievements of individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the social, cultural, and civic progress of the city. During the event, the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, emphasized that the award recipients have helped to "build a fairer, more supportive, and more prosperous municipality, with more opportunities for everyone." Although they come from very diverse fields—such as economics, culture, social integration, and sports—Martínez highlighted that they all share common values that "help Palma grow as a society and as a city." According to the mayor, these awards "symbolize, above all, the gratitude of Palma, its citizens, and its institutions" to those who have contributed to projecting the city as a welcoming space, with a forward-looking vision marked by dynamism and ambition. A path, he added, "that can only be traveled through collaboration, synergies, and understanding between diverse ideas and sensibilities, based on respect, tolerance, and coexistence." Martínez also emphasized the event as "one of the most important moments of the Standard Festival" and highlighted the willingness of the municipal groups to engage in dialogue and reach consensus, which allowed the awarding of the Gold Medals and distinctions to be done by agreement. In his closing remarks, he encouraged the award recipients to see this recognition as "an incentive to carry out their personal and collective projects," referring to them as "a mirror and a source of inspiration" for all citizens. In this edition, the Palma City Council (Cort) has named Pilar Juncosa Iglesias as an Illustrious Daughter of the City for having created her own artistic universe that has left "an indelible mark" on the evolution of art in Mallorca, and the Palma-born journalist, writer, and gastronome Caty Juan del Corral, recognized as a cultural figure. Juan del Corral's award was accepted by Lydia Esther and Luis Antonio Corral, while Juncosa's was accepted by her grandson, Joan Punyet. The mayor gave a special mention to the new Illustrious Daughters, highlighting that their legacy acquires special relevance at a time when Palma is moving forward with its bid to become the European Capital of Culture 2031. In his opinion, both "represent the values that this bid defends" and are cultural figures.

As for the City's Gold Medals, they have been awarded to Iguana Teatre, a production and distribution company, accepted by its founding partners, Carles Molinet and Pere Fullana; and to the Son Dameto Choir, recognized for its pioneering career and established artistic identity, with the award accepted by its president, Francisco Bonnin Sánchez; its director, Francesc Bonnin Socias; and its vice president, Miguel Bestars.

Baleares sin Fronteras (Balearic Islands Without Borders) has also received this recognition for its contribution to the integration of people from other territories and to cultural exchange, with the award accepted by the newspaper's founding director, Juan Pablo Blanco; and the Royal and Very Humble Brotherhood of Our Lady of El Rocío of Palma, for consolidating the union between Mallorcan faith and the Andalusian tradition of El Rocío from a distinct local identity, accepted by its secretary, Sergio David Pérez. The list of award winners is completed by Bernat Pujol, director of the Taula Rodona theater company, with more than four decades dedicated to avant-garde theater, and the Palma-born poet Antonina Canyelles Colom, one of the most prominent voices in Catalan-language poetry of the late 20th century. With these honors, the Palma City Council recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations that, individually or collectively, have worked for the benefit of the city and have made decisive contributions to its progress, social cohesion, and cultural and artistic development.