Castilla-La Mancha announces the 2025 Cultural Merit Medals with fifteen categories

The Vice-Ministry of Culture and Sports has announced the Castilla-La Mancha Cultural Merit Medals for the year 2025 through the Resolution of 09/14/2026, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha on September 21, 2026, under reference 2026/6656. The call for applications maintains the modalities of Order 83/2017 and adds, on an extraordinary basis, an award linked to the commemoration of 50 years of democracy in Spain. The jury that will decide the awards will be chaired by the regional minister Amador Pastor Noheda.

Regulatory Framework and Issuing Body

The medals were created and regulated by Order 83/2017, of April 26, of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, published in DOCM No. 88 on May 8, 2017. Its modalities were subsequently expanded through Order 94/2025, of June 16, which extended the categories eligible for nomination.

Article 6 of the regulation establishes that the medals are announced annually via a resolution from the Vice-Ministry of Culture and Sports, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha. The authority to issue it derives from Article 11 of Decree 108/2023, of July 25, which sets the organic structure and the distribution of competencies of the ministry.

Fifteen Modalities, One of Which is Extraordinary

The resolution calls for the modalities provided for in Order 83/2017 and adds an additional extraordinary one for the 50th anniversary of democracy:

• Youth culture medal for those under 35 years of age.
• Cultural merit in the rehabilitation and dissemination of tangible heritage.
• Conservation and dissemination of intangible heritage.
• Research on cultural heritage.
• Plastic arts.
• Digital art.
• Performing arts.
• Cinema.
• Music.
• Literary creation and publishing.
• Promotion of reading.
• Comics and graphic arts.
• Patronage and promotion of culture.
• Inclusive cultural projects (cultural rights).
• “Culture and Memory”.

Jury, Deadlines, and Effects

The jury, appointed in accordance with Article 5 of Order 83/2017, is published in the resolution itself:

• Amador Pastor Noheda, Minister of Education, Culture, and Sports, as president.
• Carmen Teresa Olmedo Pedroche, Vice-Minister of Culture and Sports.
• The provincial delegates Diego Pérez González (Albacete), José Jesús Caro Sierra (Ciudad Real), Gustavo Martínez Morales (Cuenca), Ángel Francisco Fernández-Montes González (Guadalajara), and José Gutiérrez Muñoz (Toledo).
• Pedro Cobo Martínez, Head of the Book, Archives, and Libraries Service; Patricia Hevia Gómez, of Heritage and Archaeology; Gonzalo Rosell Guzmán, of Performing Arts, Music, and Cinema; and María Perlines Benito, of Museums, Exhibitions, and Cultural Heritage Dissemination.
• Maite Megia Urbanos, representing the Provincial Council of Cuenca, and Ángel Serrano Morena, for the Serendipia Bookstore-Publisher, both awardees in 2024.
• Laura López Agudo, secretary of the jury, with a voice but no vote.

Jury members will have a period of ten days from the receipt of the communication to submit one or two candidacies for each category, identifying the proposed natural or legal person and justifying their merits. The maximum period for issuing the award resolution is six months from publication, and the call takes effect from the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha.

Impact on the cultural sector

The call opens the annual recognition process for creators, entities, and cultural agents of the region across fifteen areas, from heritage and research to cinema, music, comics, or patronage. The inclusion of an extraordinary category for the 50 years of democracy expands the award’s focus toward collective memory, while the presence of provincial delegates and service heads on the jury ensures a territorial and sectoral assessment of the candidacies. The calendar is thus activated: proposals must arrive within ten days and the award resolution has a maximum of six months.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, September 21, 2026, section III (Other Provisions and Acts) (official reference: 2026/6656).