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Creu de Sant Jordi 2025: a recognition of the cultural and social contribution of Catalonia
Eugènia Balcells and Carla Simón are recognized for their outstanding contribution to the country's art and visual culture.
The Generalitat de Catalunya has made public the list of 21 personalities and 10 entities that will receive the Creu de Sant Jordi this 2025, one of the country's highest institutional awards. The names of the awardees —11 men and 10 women— and the distinguished entities were announced this Tuesday, once the Government has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández .
The event, which values the civic, cultural and identity contribution of the awardees, maintains the commitment to gender parity and reflects the richness and diversity of the areas represented, which range from science and business to the arts and thought. With these distinctions, the Government highlights once again the importance of culture, diversity and commitment as fundamental axes for the construction and projection of the country.
Among the prominent names in this edition, two essential figures stand out for understanding the pulse of contemporary art and visual arts in Catalonia: Eugènia Balcells , a pioneer of visual arts and experimental audiovisual art, and Carla Simón , a filmmaker internationally recognized for her contribution to contemporary cinema in Catalan.
Eugènia Balcells (Barcelona, 1943), a long-standing visual artist, receives the Cross "for her brilliant artistic career, as one of the pioneers of experimental audiovisual art in our country". Over five decades of creation, Balcells has been able to merge disciplines, weaving bridges between science and art, matter and intangibility, reason and intuition. Her work transcends formats to open new horizons of perception and consciousness, positioning her as one of the most original and influential voices in Catalan contemporary art.
Hilo conductor, Eugènia Balcells (2025). Exposició 'Miradas que comunican' a la Fundació Telefónica
Carla Simón (Barcelona, 1986), a filmmaker who has placed Catalan cinema on the international map, has also been distinguished. Awarded "for her notorious talent and her special sensitivity", Simón has become one of the most important creative references of her generation. With Estiu 1993 she reached world critics, and with Alcarràs she made history by winning the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. Her gaze — honest, delicate and committed — has been able to portray rural life, memory and family ties from an intimate and universal perspective like few others.
Estiu 1993, Carla Simón (2017). © Inicia Films
Other awardees include names such as journalist Rosa Maria Calaf Solé , actress Loles León , playwright Lluïsa Cunillé Salgado , biologist and ecologist Ramon Folch i Guillèn , conductor Josep Pons i Viladomat , writer and researcher Mercè Ibarz , philologist and sociolinguist Isidor Marí i Mayans , pharmacist and scientist Montserrat Baiget i Bastús , geologist Josep Maria Mata-Perelló , farmer and union leader Joan Caball i Subirana , educator Mireia Montané i Tuca , businesswoman Laura Roigé Pons , businessman and publisher Francisco Javier Moll de Miguel , optician and optometrist Manuel Roure i Arnaldo , politician Joan Saura Laporta , businessman José Creuheras Margenat , mountaineer Josep Manuel Anglada Nieto , dancer and choreographer Montse Colomé i Pujol and Marc Lloret i Isiegas , musician and cultural manager, awarded posthumously.
As for the distinguished entities, they will receive the Cross of Sant Jordi: the Puppet Center of Lleida , the College of Civil, Canal and Port Engineers of Catalonia , the theater company La Cubana , the Federation of the Three Tombs of Sant Antoni in Barcelona , the Gay Liberation Front of Catalonia (FAGC) , the Catalan Foundation of ELA Miquel Valls , the Jaume Huguet Institute - Former School of Work of Valls , the musical group Sabor de Gràcia , the environmental initiative Unió per la Mediterrània , and the Venerable Congregation of the Mare de Déu dels Dolors of Vic .
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