Torregrosa, accompanied by the territorial delegates of the Andalusian Government in Almería, has assured that the celebration of 28-F is one of the most special days “where the Junta de Andalucía recognises people and institutions for their work and values, in short, for making our province greater”. In total, as detailed by the delegate of the Junta in Almeria, 11 flags will be awarded to 13 winners during the ceremony which will take place in the Cultural Centre of Adra and will be chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, Carmen Crespo.
The Government delegate said that this year’s awards “are a cast that summarises the value of the province’s human capital, a cast of people, companies and institutions that make the name of Almería and Andalusia great”. He also stressed that “this is the second time in this term of office that we have held this event in a municipality in the province, in this case Adra, as a sign of the closeness and attitude of Juanma Moreno’s government, which supports municipalism as never before”. Torregrosa recalled that in 2020 this celebration took place in the town of Vera.
The flags of this year 2022 are: Flag of Social Sciences and Letters for the Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses of IES of Andalusia, delegation of Almería, ADIÁN, and for the Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Infant and Primary and School Residences, delegation of Almería, ASADIPRE; Flag of Sport for the Clásica ciclista de Almería; Flag of Arts to Laura Diepstraten García; the Flag of Solidarity and Concord for the Illustrious Provincial College of Lawyers of Almeria and the Illustrious College of Solicitors of Almeria; the Flag for the Projection of the Province to Pilar Martínez-Cosentino Alfonso; the Flag for Research, Science and Health, to Miguel Arráez Sánchez; the Flag in recognition of the Special Trajectory for the bullfighter Manuel Ruiz Valdivia “Ruiz Manuel”; the Flag for Environmental Merit to the company CAMPOJOYMA S. L; the Flag for Human Values to the ‘Sara Allut Plata’ Association; and the Flag of Economy and Enterprise to the ADRA Fisheries Producers Organisation (OPP-84) and the company La Unión.
Flags of Andalusia 2022
The Social Sciences and Literature Flag goes to the Andalusian Association of Secondary School Headmasters and Headmistresses ADÍAN and the Andalusian Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Infant, Primary and Residential Schools ASADRIPE.
For teachers, the pandemic has been a challenge that they have been able to overcome by reinventing themselves in order to continue training students through videoconferencing, teledocency or classroom teaching, modifying the methodology in their subjects and adapting activities so that students can continue learning with the resources available at home.
Teachers who have helped to maintain the link between classmates, showing the social and integrating side of the school, contributing to the socio-affective development of the pupils, doing their bit to make our children suffer a little less from confinement.
The same teachers who, after returning to the classrooms, with fear, but with more affection, have made them a safe place, where the hydrogel, the masks and the open windows made it possible for the pupils to relate to their classmates again.
Teachers who are represented in Almeria by the Andalusian Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Secondary Schools ADIAN and the Andalusian Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Infant, Primary and Residential Schools ASADRIPE in their respective delegations in Almeria.
The Clásica de Almería is awarded the Andalusian Sports Flag.
It is one of only two professional cycling races held in Andalusia, and one of the 17 that make up the professional calendar in Spain. The Clásica de Almería is a top-level international sporting event in which the best teams and riders from all over the world take part, and which is followed and broadcast all over the world.
It was in 1988 when this sporting event was born, under the name of Ruta de las Hortalizas, until finally in 1992 it debuted as a professional race and meant that the route of the event was opened up to the whole province.
Given its location in the calendar in the second week of February, the Clásica de Almería is the first major one-day race of the season in Europe, opening what is known as the “cycling spring”. It is also particularly relevant this year as it celebrates its 25th edition and has become a race of international prestige and relevance, receiving every year the best teams in the world who line up for the race their best specialists in one-day races and mass finishes, and among whom are usually many of the biggest stars of the sport, who have marked the Almeria race as one of their objectives for the year.
The Andalusian Flag of the Arts was awarded to Doña Laura Diepstraten García.
Singer, pianist and composer, born in the Almerian town of Pulpí; deprived of the sense of sight since birth, has not prevented her from combining her studies of ESO and the professional piano degree at the Conservatory.
At the age of eight she won the ONCE Music Competition as a soloist and at the age of 11 she participated in the programme ‘La Voz Kids’. The young Almeria native’s achievements include winning the first edition of the International Low Vision Song Contest, known as the Eurovision Song Contest for blind artists. At the age of 15, she was the youngest participant in this edition, participating with the song “Otra visión”, composed by her and where she explains, in an autobiographical way, the life perspective of a person with severe visual impairment.
One of her greatest personal experiences was when she performed the Andalusian Anthem before Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain, on the occasion of the presentation of the Medal of Honour of Andalusia to King Felipe VI, in the Palace of San Telmo, on 14 June. Last year, the Andalusian Youth Institute (IAJ) presented the 18th edition of its Andalusia Youth Awards, awarding Laura the prize in the category of Young Revelation.
Laura Diepstraten García is, in addition to being a renowned singer and composer in her youth, an example of overcoming her visual disability. The key to Laura’s success is her parents, Ronny Diepstraten and Marifé García, who have been her fundamental support in achieving her goals with effort, tenacity and perseverance, without her disability being an obstacle to her success. Laura Diepstraten García has thus become an example of self-improvement, of the fact that in life you set your own limits.
The Andalusian Flag of Solidarity and Concord is awarded to the Provincial Bar Association of Almeria and the Bar Association of Almeria.
In development of article 119 of the Spanish Constitution, Free Justice is a procedure by means of which a series of benefits are recognised for those who can prove that they lack sufficient economic resources, consisting mainly of exemption from the payment of lawyer and solicitor fees, expenses derived from expert opinions, bonds, court fees, etc.; with the aim of guaranteeing the right of all persons to access to justice under equal conditions.
This right is set out in Law 1/1996, of 10 January, on free legal aid, which is generally applicable to all types of legal proceedings, including appeals for constitutional protection, as well as to pre-trial advice.
In Andalusia, the legal aid system is established by Decree 67/2008, of 26 February, which approves the Regulations on Free Legal Aid in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, (amended by Decree 537/2012, of 28 December, and by Decree 102/2020, of 21 July), which regulates, on the one hand, the procedure for the recognition of the right to free legal aid and, on the other, the system for the financial compensation for the services provided by the Bar Associations and the Bar Associations of Solicitors of Andalusia.
Undoubtedly two fundamental pillars of this public service, so that its beneficiaries can access justice in order to comply with the principle of equality and the right to effective protection, are the lawyers and solicitors, represented in this province by the Provincial Bar Association of Almeria and the Bar Association of Almeria.
Flag of Andalusia to the Projection of the Province to Doña Pilar Martínez-Cosentino Alfonso.
Pilar Martínez-Cosentino Alfonso was born in the town of Macael, Almeria, and holds a degree in Law and Business Legal Consultancy from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (Icade) in Madrid and an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa.
After finishing her studies she worked at KPMG until December 2003, when she joined the family business, first in the legal area and then in the Strategic Planning Department. Married and mother of three children, she has been executive vice-president of the Cosentino Group since 2015. She is currently very focused on talent management and human resources, a key area for the Andalusian multinational, which has exceeded
5,300 workers during the pandemic.
The Cosentino Group is known worldwide for taking the stone and marble industry and the name of Almeria and Macael all over the world. The Andalusian Regional Government has recently declared the Cosentino Group’s expansion project to be of regional interest. This action in the Almeria region of Almanzora will involve an investment of 719 million over a period of ten years.
The magazine “Andalucía Económica” recently awarded the Executive Vice-President of the Cosentino Group, Pilar Martínez-Cosentino Alfonso, as “Andalusian Executive of the Year”.
She has also recently been recognised with the CaixaBank 2021 Woman Businesswoman Award, among the fourteen selected, Pilar has been chosen as the national winner of this prestigious award that recognises the executive for her outstanding professional career, her commitment to innovation, continuous training and internationalisation, her firm commitment to the territory and local communities, and her transformational leadership.
The Andalusian Flag for Research, Science and Health is awarded to Miguel Ángel Arráez Sánchez.
Dr. Miguel Ángel Arráez Sánchez is a specialist in Neurosurgery and Doctor of Medicine and Surgery, Founder of the Arráez Institute of Advanced Neurosurgery. Throughout his long professional career, he has carried out several training stays in Europe and the USA, mainly aimed at perfecting sophisticated surgical techniques including minimally invasive surgery procedures, applicable in fields as diverse as spinal pathology and certain tumours of the Nervous System. He has been a national pioneer in techniques such as fluorescence-guided resection of brain tumours.
His professional career includes positions of responsibility in the most important national and international neurosurgical societies. He has been recognised by the scientific community with his inclusion in the list of the 50 best doctors in private healthcare, a selection made by his peers through the prestigious digital platform Top Doctors, as an eminent specialist in neurosurgery, where in addition to his healthcare activity, he stands out for his informative work as editor and reviewer of numerous national and international journals; being awarded for three consecutive years the Top Doctors Awards (2015, 2016 and 2017).
Born in the Almeria neighbourhood of Ciudad Jardín, in 2016 he received the Gold Shield of the Almeria City Council and in 2017 the Gold Medal of the Province awarded by the Provincial Council. He is currently Head of the Neurosurgery Service of the Carlos Haya Regional University Hospital in Malaga, where he directs a team of 25 professionals. He is also head of the same service at the Quirón Málaga clinics, and has founded the Arráez Institute of Advanced Neurosurgery. He is also director of the Chair for the Development and Advances in Neurosurgery at the University of Malaga, among other distinctions.
From next April, Miguel Ángel Arráez, from Almería, will preside over the World Academy of Neurosurgery, one of the most prestigious international associations in this speciality.
Flag of Andalusia in recognition of the special career of Manuel Ruiz Valdivia “Ruiz Manuel”.
When he was only 9 years old, he already stood in front of a calf for the first time. A moment that confirmed his role in the world of bullfighting, which is why he decided to train at the Bullfighting School of Almeria.
Since his presentation in 1987 in the town of Gádor, until the alternative that he took from the hands of José Pedro Prados, el Fundi, on the 30th of July 1995 in the bullring of Beaucaire (France), with a return to the ring and two ears included, Ruiz Manuel has demonstrated his professionalism, his art, his accuracy, his immobility in the chosen terrain, the plastic beauty of his serenity and the bull’s attack.
Ruiz Manuel has demonstrated his professionalism, his art, his accuracy, his immobility on the chosen terrain, the plastic beauty of his serenity and the bull’s charge. He has shown himself to be a constant, hard-working person and an Almerian from all four sides: “zapillero” (born in this neighbourhood of which he was named favourite son in 1996). As well as becoming a master in the world of bullfighting, he set out to put Almeria on the bullfighting map, and he has achieved this.
As director of the Bullfighting School of Almeria, his other great passion, he has ensured that any young person who wants to become a bullfighter does not find the loneliness that he did, turning this school into a real opportunity.
Undoubtedly Manuel Ruiz Valdivia, Ruiz Manuel, deserves this recognition, not only for his professionalism in the world of bullfighting, but as a person who has grown and worked day by day since he was a boy from Zapillo, to become an excellent master of bullfighting and above all an exceptional Almerian.
Andalusian Flag of Environmental Merit to CAMPOJOYMA.
CAMPOJOYMA SLU is a leader in the organic vegetable production sector in Spain. Quality, commitment to sustainability and its high reputation in international markets are its hallmarks.
Founded by Francisco Jesús Montoya Sánchez in 2004, it is a young, dynamic and enterprising organic company where innovation and seriousness in its work are fundamental pillars. Its motto is “we believe in the environment, sustainability, human rights and society”.
Along with its powerful economic and commercial activity, it carries out important work in social responsibility, including the construction of a school in Gambia (Equatorial Africa), with regular donations to Caritas, paying for meals at the Milagrosa soup kitchen and the Almeria Food Bank.
As its founder and manager, Francisco Jesús Montoya, says “we are a company with sensitivity, which we develop on a daily basis by caring for the environment and with a strong social commitment throughout the year in which we like to involve all our workers”. But not everything stops here, in 2021 it has started a social integration project “Enseñar a Vivir”, both with material and financial donations, and more importantly, with the progressive integration of people from the street, with no emotional ties, to a decent job in the company. For all these reasons, we believe that Campojoyma SLU deserves this award.
Flag of Andalusia for Human Values to the Sara Allut Plata Association.
The Sara Allut Plata Association was created to help children and women in situations of extreme poverty, illness and abandonment as part of an idea that arose from several children to remember the figure of their mother, Sara Allut Plata, an operating room nurse, heart surgeon, with exceptional gifts for her kindness, simplicity and desire to help others.
The aim of the Association is to provide direct help, without intermediaries of any kind, to women and children in the poorest countries of the world, with special dedication to Africa, where she carries out a humanitarian mission every summer; with this work her children and husband have wanted to pay tribute to her in this way.
This Association aims to help so many people in the world who suffer from extreme poverty, disease, violence and war and feel abandoned; to accompany them, to give them warmth and not to make them feel alone. The Association is chaired by Dr. Antonio Huete Allut Allut, a neurosurgeon at the leading hospital in the province of Almería, Hospital Universitario de Torrecárdenas, and son of Sara Allut Plata, and its motto is simply “to help”.
They carry out solidarity missions in other countries, providing care for pregnant women, childbirth assistance, care for children with infectious diseases, care for patients with neurosurgical pathologies (hydrocephalus, myelomeningocele) or with vertebral fractures, to give some examples. It is an example of the dedication and generosity of all these health professionals, integrated in the Association, who dedicate their holidays and their money to help people who have nothing.
Andalusian Flag of Economy and Enterprise:
1.- The Adra Fisheries Producers Organisation (OPP-84).
The Organización de Productores Pesqueros de Adra is a non-profit association. It is an organisation made up of shipowners from the port of Adra. It was created to seek solutions to the demands of the local fishing sector, mainly in the promotion of sustainable fishing of the members, the identification and traceability of the products and the improvement of their economic profitability.
The objectives of the Adra Fishing Producers’ Organisation are the representation, management, defence and promotion of the economic, social and professional interests of its members, the adaptation of supply to demand, product traceability, cooperation with the competent administrations in the management of the fishing grounds where its members operate, the promotion of fishing activities and the elimination of IUU fishing practices.
The Adra Fish Producers’ Organisation is firmly committed to the preparation and marketing of traditional recipes using fish and, in particular, the dried pulse of Adra, which is in the process of being awarded the Traditional Geographical Indication (IGT).
2. Alhóndiga La Unión.
La Unión is an agri-food company from Almeria which has developed Europe’s first plant for freezing fresh fruit and vegetables in the province of Almeria. It has gone from being a family company dedicated to exporting vegetables to becoming a reference point in the world of fruit and vegetable marketing.
Thanks to an R+D+I process to develop pre-prepared and pre-cooked convenience food processes. La Unión uses the revolutionary Nice Tech technology by means of a physical process whereby the cellular structure of the vegetables is not broken during the freezing process which allows all the organoleptic properties of their fresh state to be maintained when they are defrosted.
In other words, it allows fresh food to last and maintain its structure, vitamins, flavour, texture and freshness for about three years, ensuring that the consumer receives it with all the guarantees of quality. This method ensures that the product is available at any time of the year, stabilises prices in the sector and avoids waste in the transport of products.
The total production capacity of the Abderita facilities, in which 21 million euros have been invested by Alhóndiga La Unión and Nice Tech, is 6 million kilos a year with the aim of doubling the quantity in five years’ time.
