Mujerhoy Awards Honour Five Exceptional Women and One Man

Beneath an elegant night scented with ink, printed letters, and presses, paying homage to the artisanal origins of those paper pages that tell stories and are 'the pause amidst the noise', Mujerhoy, Vocento's lifestyle magazine, celebrated the 16th edition of its annual awards, honouring female talent. This year, the awards were given to five exceptional and inspiring women and one man: Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, actress Maribel Verdú, writer Siri Hustvedt, former model and entrepreneur Sassa Hannover, and world champion artistic swimmers, the mixed duo of Iris Tió and Dennis González.

Adorned with elements evoking traditional magazines, with classic typography and nods to paper, the Royal Theatre Retiro in Madrid hosted the evening on Tuesday, led by journalist and presenter Elena Sánchez. The event gathered over 200 guests (ladies in evening gowns, gentlemen in tuxedos), including personalities from culture, art, cinema, fashion, sports, business, and politics, with the presence of the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, Elma Saiz.

Upon arrival, they were welcomed by Vocento's President, Ignacio Ybarra; CEO Manuel Mirat; General Director of the Luxury, Lifestyle, and Magazines Area, Samary Fernández Feito; Director of Mujerhoy, María Fernández-Miranda; as well as the Minister of Family of the Community of Madrid, Ana Dávila-Ponce de León, and her General Director of Women, Patricia Reyes.

'Fashion is pure history of humanity,' said Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza upon receiving her Mujerhoy Commitment Award, a recognition of her invaluable contribution to promoting art in Spain. The architect of the Thyssen Museum and owner of one of the world's most important art collections, the baroness received the award from Vocento's President, Ignacio Ybarra, and Ana Porto, Global Communications Director at Telefónica.

Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza expressed her gratitude for an award 'that brings me great joy', while leaving one of the memorable quotes of the night: 'Art unites people'. In her words, she also acknowledged that 'art is as important as cinema, music, writing, or fashion, which is pure history of humanity'.

Maribel Verdú, a true icon of contemporary Spanish cinema, winner of two Goya Awards and an actress with a successful four-decade career, received the Mujerhoy Lifetime Achievement Award 2025, presented by María Fernández Miranda, Director of Mujerhoy, and Emilio Herrera, President of KIA.

The actress, who has worked in over 70 films under directors like Guillermo del Toro and Francis Ford Coppola, delivered a beautiful speech recalling her first steps on the big screen at just 13 years old. 'I was Manolita in 'La huella del crimen', and that girl could never have dreamed that she would now make a living living the lives of other women,' said Verdú, dedicating the award 'to the women whose lives I have lived for some time, both in film and on television or theatre', and especially 'to all the women who have accompanied me in the most important film, which is my life'. With her emotional words, she toasted 'to continue together in many more chapters and for this story to have a happy ending, like tonight'.

Novelist, essayist, poet, and Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, American writer Siri Hustvedt received the Mujerhoy Inspiration Award from Manuel Mirat, CEO of Vocento, and María Ruiz-Moyano, Director of Institutional Relations and Social Action at Banco Santander.

Hustvedt, recognized for 'her literary and intellectual contribution to better understanding the world we live in', delivered a vibrant and moving speech defending feminine values 'such as empathy, compassion, negotiation, or democracy itself'. In her view, these values are under attack 'in an era of emerging authoritarianism', and quoting Virginia Woolf, she argued that 'all creativity requires freedom to flourish'.

Before bidding farewell and thanking for the award, Paul Auster's widow invited everyone present to celebrate freedom also 'in the small everyday spaces, in the rooms of girls and boys, women and men who defend feminine and democratic values while writing their stories against the prevailing winds of cruelty and intolerance that seek to silence them'.

Samary Fernández Feito, General Director of the Luxury, Magazines, and Lifestyle Area at Vocento, presented Sassa Hannover with the Mujerhoy Style Icon Award. Lawyer, entrepreneur, former model, and Dior collaborator, the Peruvian-born aristocrat based in Madrid cultivates multiple facets but always finds in fashion the best means of expression with a way of dressing 'that is synonymous with elegance and authenticity'.

In her acceptance speech, Sassa Hannover acknowledged that she never thought of style as something to pursue, 'but as something that, without realizing it, forms over time, depending on how we live and how we view the world'. She also made it clear that style 'is not measured by clothes, but by the attitude with which one walks through life. It does not depend solely on what we wear, but on how we live with coherence, sensitivity, and authenticity'.

Ana Dávila-Ponce de León, Minister of Family, Youth, and Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid, and Juan Pedro Díaz Armendáriz, Vocento's General Commercial Director, presented the Mujerhoy Community of Madrid Values Award to swimmers Iris Tió and Dennis González, gold medalists at the Artistic Swimming World Championships in Singapore, who, through their effort, talent, and youth (23-year-old Iris and 21-year-old Dennis), are 'an example to follow' for new generations and 'pride of an entire country'.

Of that wonderful complicity, Iris Tió acknowledged upon receiving her Mujerhoy Award that 'working with a team that strives with commitment and dedication is the best thing life has given me' and wished 'that you all have the same luck as I do'. For his part, Dennis González expressed his gratitude for being 'one of the few boys among these wonderful women' and for 'giving visibility to a sport like ours'. He left with his words a reflection that perfectly reflects the inspiration these young champions are for new generations: 'It's not what we did, but how we did it. Because with fear you get there faster, but with love you get further'.

To welcome the 16th Mujerhoy Awards, Samary Fernández Feito wanted to pay tribute to printing, ink, and paper, 'to that art that for centuries has been the mirror of our culture and our time'. Aware that 'we have gone from writing with a pen to typing, from editing on paper to publishing on screens, and now from creating with the human mind to doing so alongside machines', the General Director of the Luxury, Lifestyle, and Magazines Area at Vocento emphasized that if anything defines us in this storytelling profession, it is 'precisely our ability to adapt: we have been reinventing ourselves for twenty years'.

In that tribute to timeless magazines, Fernández Feito noted that 'in a world dominated by the ephemeral and digital, the magazine's paper endures because it turns the fleeting into something that can be held, touched, inherited', and added that at Mujerhoy 'we continue to work with the responsibility of knowing that in each sheet of paper there is more than fashion and beauty'. 'It's not just about reading, it's the pause in the middle of the noise, the space where we meet again, where the world becomes more beautiful and kinder for a few pages'.

For her part, María Fernández-Miranda, Director of Mujerhoy, recalled how 'the first time I set foot in a newsroom I was 19 years old. It was the newsroom of a regional newspaper. There were no websites or social networks back then. In that newsroom, I learned a few valuable lessons. For example, I learned that journalists should never be the news. Our greatest privilege is to serve as a voice for those who change the world or inspire us, who have something to teach us, who contribute'.

And under the inspiration exuded by the awardees, Fernández-Miranda briefly reviewed the merits and expressed gratitude to the six honorees. To Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza, she thanked 'for opening our eyes to art' and 'all those hours we have spent contemplating the works of Dürer, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, O'Keeffe, Hopper…'. Of Maribel Verdú, she highlighted her forty-year career and recalled that 'a professional career cannot be understood without a life journey. And there you have indeed succeeded'. To Sassa Hannover, she said: 'You have understood like few others that the interior matters, of course, but the exterior does too'. She also had words for Siri Hustvedt, 'an expert in books and love stories', as her latest work reminisces about her years with her husband, writer Paul Auster, who passed away last April. As for Iris Tió and Dennis González, she valued their 'effort, perseverance, and team spirit'.

There were also words of gratitude to the sponsors and collaborators of the Mujerhoy Awards, which in this 16th edition have had the support of Banco Santander, Telefónica with its Movistar Plus+ platform, KIA, Iberdrola, El Corte Inglés, Iryo, Community of Madrid, and the brands of the Osborne group, Nordés, 5 Jotas, Anís del Mono, and Bodegas Montecillo.

The glamorous evening, which included a cocktail and a dinner where steak tartare on grilled rice crackers and smoked eel with caramelized pear triumphed, was attended by over 200 guests amidst glimmers, impeccable fabrics, and knowing glances where fashion, style, and beauty came to life. Vocento executives were present, such as Editorial and Communications General Director Fernando Belzunce; Colpisa Director Mar Domínguez; XL Semanal Director Mar Cohnen; or ABC Deputy Director Alfonso R. Aldeyturriaga.

Also in attendance were socialites like Carmen Lomana, Eugenia Osborne, Fabiola Martínez, or Inés de Cominges; representatives from the culture and society sectors such as Thyssen Director Guillermo Solana; actors Miriam Giovanelli, Fernando Andina, Elena Rivera, and Carola Baleztena, as well as chef Ramón Freixa, writer Rafa Tarradas, journalist María Eizaguirre, or double Olympic champion Saúl Craviotto, among others.

Representing the fashion world, models Laura Ponte and Almudena Fernández, entrepreneur Raquel Revuelta, and designers Teresa Helbig, Modesto Lomba, Jorge Redondo, Marcos Luengo, Juan Carlos Fernández, and Antonio Burillo stood out. A good number of influencers also attended, such as Rocío Camacho, María Alcalde, Paula Ordovás, Iera Paperlight, sisters Melissa and Grace Villarreal, Cristina Cerqueiras, Raquel Reitx, Isabel Marín, Marina Muñoz, among others.