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Honourable Mayor, Don Francisco Fernández
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am most grateful for the very kind words you have addressed me and wish to express my deepest appreciation to Your Excellency and to all the officers of the City Council for the award of the Gold Medal of the City of León, a distinction with which I am greatly honoured.

In a skirmish between Portuguese and Leonese forces, in the distant year of 1169, the so often victorious king D. Afonso Henriques was wounded in the fighting and taken prisoner by his son in law, D. Fernando II of León. The chronicler states that D. Fernando, before freeing him, treated his royal father in law with all due respect: “he ordered his leg dressed, had him seat alongside and gave him much honour.”

This is historic fact. But there is a Legend as well. 13th century Portuguese and Leonese chronicles relate that D. Afonso Henriques had obtained his liberty from D. Fernando in exchange for returning as soon as his wound would no longer prevent him from riding a horse. In order not to have to go back to León, D. Afonso Henriques will have then decided never to ride a horse for the remaider of his life.

Nearly eight hundred and forty years later, the Portuguese Head of State visits León. He comes with friendship and is welcomed as a friend. Allow me, Honourable Mayor, to thank you and, through your good offices, all the people of León, for the extraordinary and fraternal hospitality with which I have been received.

We have a common History. We know that Portugal is a State from the Reconquest and that its foundation is related to the dynastic wars between the successors of Afonso VI of León. We share a memory in which the fundamental reference is the land. The community of landscapes is strengthened by similarity in the way of life.

Originally, borders were a meeting place, not a barrier. Later, the assertive positioning of States determined that borders should become limiting and separating markers. A line of defence against everything that came from abroad. Disunion came about and, with it, the growth of mutual ignorance. But very profound changes occurred in the last decades. Our today’s border is once again a privileged meeting area, a place of communication between people. Largely because of the European Union.

It is important that we should recall here the remarkable European spirit that this region has shown since early times. In a Peninsula which had closed itself to Europe, the Kingdom of León was outstanding, in the beginning of the second millennium, by its acceptance of the influences which came from the Europe on the far side of the Pyrenees.

The signs of this precocious European spirit are well known today. The Path of St. James, as a meeting area of all the European pilgrims, the gothic, which we have admired today in the magnificent Cathedral of León, the University of Salamanca, created in 1218.

In this medieval process of Europeanization of the Kingdom of León I will single out two facts which were crucial for the independence of Portugal. Firstly, the presence of the Order of Cluny and its influence over the Leonese monarchs, to which is owed the arrival in the peninsular northeast of Henry of Burgundy, father of D. Afonso Henriques, our first King.

Secondly, the acceptance by the Kingdom of León of the values of the Gregorian reform, which fought for the superiority of spiritual over temporal power and which explains the skilful diplomatic strategy of D. Afonso Henriques. The presence of the papal delegate in the Conference of Zamora, in 1143, permitted what would otherwise have been an act of bondage of a feudal lord towards his King to become, in front of the representative of the Church, an agreement between equals sanctioned by spiritual power.

This opening towards European mentality, which dictated the cultural and political conditions which allowed us to follow our own way, now contributes towards bringing us together. The process of European construction created opportunities for mutual rediscovery. Geography has changed and is changing mentalities. I notice, for instance, the presence in León of many Portuguese workers who feel they are welcome here. Portuguese and Leonese, we think of ourselves as Europeans. Europe is our common ground.

Many steps have yet to be taken. I would appreciate, for instance, that Portugal’s reality could be better known in this country. In our case, we must recognize Spain’s diversity and learn to deal with it.

Honourable Mayor,

I found in León a modern and enterprising community, proud of its History but looking towards the future. A community with whom we want to tighten the secular bonds that link us.

Allow me to end, resorting to a traditional Leonese song, a harvest chant, known as “Por los Pueblos” (“For the People”):

“Sale del alma
el amor que tengo;
sale del alma.
Sale del alma,
Si del alma no sale,
No vale nada.”

[“From the soul comes
the love I have;
it comes from the soul.
From the soul it comes,
and if not from the soul,
then it is worth nothing.”]

The friendship and gratefulness that I feel for this city and for this community come from the soul.

Thank you very much