Asturias announces the first edition of its Cultural Heritage Awards

The Department of Culture, Linguistic Policy and Sport of the Principality of Asturias has announced the first edition of the Asturias Cultural Heritage Awards, a recognition intended to reward the work of defending, protecting, and disseminating regional heritage. The call is formalized through the Resolution of September 1, 2026, signed by the counselor Ana Vanessa Gutiérrez González, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) No. 176, of September 11, 2026, with the code 2026-07445.

The purpose of the awards is to express social recognition for meritorious work and a particularly outstanding professional career in the field of cultural heritage, with the aim of strengthening the social feeling of appreciation and commitment to Asturian culture. The call is supported by Article 98 of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 1/2001, of March 6, on Cultural Heritage, which urges public authorities to establish support measures for creation as a means to enrich regional heritage.

Ten categories and a grant of 10,000 euros

The call includes ten categories, each endowed with 1,000 euros, totaling 10,000 euros charged to the budgetary application 21.03.458D.482.168 of the General Budgets of the Principality for 2026. The awards recognize both continuous careers and specific actions of special relevance, and in no case may they be granted posthumously.

• Award for the recovery and transmission of cultural heritage (material).
• Award for the recovery and transmission of ethnographic heritage.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of oral memory.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of dances and balls of Asturias.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of Asturian traditions.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of the Asturian bagpipe culture.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of the Asturian cheese culture.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of the Asturian cider culture.
• Award for the recovery and transmission of the Asturian mining culture.
• Award for generational transmission in the field of Asturian culture.

Candidacies and deadline

Any individual or non-profit entity, such as associations, foundations, and institutions, may propose candidacies, provided they stand out for an accredited effort in the defense, protection, and dissemination of Asturian cultural heritage. Candidacies shall be submitted in a sealed envelope identified with the reference “I Edición Premios del Patrimonio Cultural de Asturias”, using the standardized form available on the electronic office of the Principality (https://sede.asturias.es), by entering the code PREM0037T01.

The application period will be 15 business days starting from the day following the publication of the resolution in the BOPA. The instructing body will be the Heritage Conservation Service, attached to the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage.

Jury and resolution

The jury will be chaired by the Director General of Cultural Heritage and will consist of nine members with specialized profiles—tangible heritage, ethnographic, intangible, oral history, traditional music and bagpipes, dance, agri-food heritage, industrial and mining heritage, and a representative from the academic sphere of the University of Oviedo—in addition to a secretariat with a voice but no vote. The jury will submit the proposal to the head of the Department, who will resolve the verdict by means of a resolution within a maximum period of six months.

The regulatory bases for these awards were approved by Order CPLD/1/2026, of July 30, 2026, published in BOPA no. 153, of August 10, 2026. With this first edition, Asturias debuts a recognition instrument that covers everything from tangible heritage to intangible traditions, oral memory, and the cultures of the bagpipe, cheese, cider, and mining, consolidating the protection and dissemination of the community’s cultural legacy.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 176, of September 11, 2026, I. Principality of Asturias, Other Provisions, page 1 (official reference: code 2026-07445).