The Officer's Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, granted by King Felipe VI of Spain, was presented this Saturday to Jorge Antonio Fernández Torres, director of the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA).

The ceremony, held in the Temporary Exhibition Hall of the institution's Cuban Art Building, was attended by the Ambassador of Spain to Cuba, Francisco Javier Hergueta Garnica, who presented the award, and Cuba's Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso Grau, among other personalities and guests, according to a post on the MNBA's official Facebook page.

Hergueta praised the work and knowledge of the honoree, noting that it is a decoration granted for tangible merits, while recognizing Fernández Torres as a great manager at the head of this magnificent museum and a renowned expert and scholar of painting, highly celebrated and sought after outside Cuba.

"It is a privilege and I am thrilled by this opportunity," declared the diplomat, highlighting the mutual collaboration between his country and the MNBA, especially during difficult times; at the same time, he expressed his satisfaction in recognizing the achievements of a great collaborator and, even more so, doing so on his own soil.

Fernández Torres expressed his gratitude for the honor and the assistance of both the Spanish Embassy and Spain; he highlighted the work of the Iberian nation's diplomatic mission regarding vulnerable sectors within the largest island of the Antilles, as well as its extensive work in other fields.

There was no shortage of words reflecting on the historical cultural and human relations between Spain and Cuba, referencing great names in fine arts, architecture, literature, and art—both native Cuban and peninsular—and their legacies, which evidence the solid bonds and influences woven between both nations.

Likewise, he recalled a quote by Máximo Gómez drawn from an anecdote told to him by historian Eusebio Leal: "The Generalissimo used to say that Cuban and Spanish soldiers, due to the American intervention in the war in 1898, had never been able to say goodbye as worthy rivals at the end of the conflict. Thus, he stressed, now and after so much history, we cannot say goodbye to Spain."