Antonio Banderas wins award at Malaga charity gala

ANTONIO BANDERAS was awarded one of the Malaga Rotary Club’s three ‘Huella’ awards.

The Baroness Thyssen, who won the ‘Cultural’ prize last year, handed the award over to Banderas at the benefit dinner held in aid of the Fundacion Lagrimas y Favores at the 5-star Vincci Posada del Patio hotel in Malaga City.

This award is given to a public personality who has made a positive impact on the city and is this the second year the awards have taken place.

Winners are given a bronze statue.

The ‘Social’ prize was awarded to the Fundacion Lagrimas y Favores and the ‘Development’ prize was awarded to the company ‘Caterpillar CIF’ Malaga.

The dinner was attended by Malaga Mayor Francisco de la Torre and Rotary Club members, headed by its president Ana Lopez Caparros, as well as several leading members of the business community.

Banderas travelled to Spain without his wife Melanie Griffiths or their daughter Stella del Carmen, and is participating in Easter Holy Week festivities in Malaga together with the Baroness.

Processions

The Malaga-born Hollywood actor took part in the procession of the ‘Virgen de Lagrimas y Favores’ on Palm Sunday.

“This is the church where my parents were married and where I was baptized, where people carrying the throne are friends of mine since we were kids and I have met them again only because of the Holy Week,” he said.

He has been the president of the ‘Virgen de Lagrimas y Favores’ which joined the Corinth project organized by the Holy Week group to help nearly 200 families in Malaga by establishing a cheap supermarket last October with subsidized prices of up to 75 per cent.

“We have to eliminate the word charity because people maintain their dignity and have to go and buy,” said Banderas.

The foundation also awards scholarships for graduate students of the University of Malaga and collaborates with charities including Cudeca and Caritas.

Photo credit: James Yeadon
By Nicole Hallett