The Prince of Asturias prize-giving ceremony was held in Oviedo in the Campoamor theatre. In his speech on the occasion of this 15th Prize-Giving, Prince Felipe praised the work of mediation and peace-making carried out by King Hussein of Jordan in the Middle East and the admirable democratic record of Mario Soares.

The eleven Prince of Asturias Awards presented were as follows:

Social Sciences: Joaquim Veríssimo Serrao, a prominent Portuguese medievalist and author of a large number of studies on the 13th to 17th centuries.

Social Sciences: Miguel Batllori, a Jesuit from Barcelona, a scholar with a deep knowledge of Catalan culture.

Literature: Carlos Bousoño, an Asturian expert on poetic discourse, both for his work as an essayist and literary critic and for his poetry.

Sports: Hassiba Boulmerka, an Algerian athlete who has received threats and strong social and religious pressure.

Technical and Scientific Research: Manuel Losada Villasante, a researcher from Seville, for his studies on the development and protection of life on the planet.

Technical and Scientific Research: National Institute of Biodiversity of Costa Rica (Inbio), a non-profit private institution, which has opened up a new way for developing countries to conserve their biological wealth.

International Cooperation: Mario Soares, the President of Portugal, for the struggle he has maintained for democracy throughout his life.

Concord: Hussein I, King of Jordan, a monarch who has played an important diplomatic role in the peace negotiations in the Middle East.

Arts: Fernando Fernán-Gómez, actor, film-director and stage manager who has written novels and drama, for his fruitful artistic work in Spain and America.

Communications and Humanities: Efe Agency, an international news agency, regarded as the top Spanish-language news agency world-wide.

Communications and Humanities: José Luis López Aranguren, a Madrid intellectual, a scholar with a profound knowledge of Christian theology and cultural trends who was expelled from his post as lecturer in ethics at the "Complutense" University in 1965.