The singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat received today “happy and excited” the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise from the hands of the Spanish premier, Pedro Sánchez.
The award was given to Serrat, 78, who will celebrate a farewell tour this year after a 56-year career, “for his brilliant career and his contribution to Spanish culture and art.”
Sánchez defined Serrat as “the eternal child” and stated that “from now on we will call him most excellent, most excellent poet, writer, lyricist, musician, citizen.”
At the ceremony held at the Moncloa palace, surrounded by family and friends such as the singers Víctor Manuel and Ana Belén, Serrat stated that he was “excited to receive this distinction with my children who, beyond seeing a human being at home in underpants, let them know that there is a person who has worked, who has done other things”.
And he added: “The only thing I’ve done in my life is to do what I wanted, how I wanted to do it and in the way I had to do it.”
