Ideas are defended through reason, not assertion
En el corazón de un debate cultural que lleva décadas definiéndose, Sociedad Civil Catalana ha elegido honrar a dos intelectuales —el economista Félix Ovejero y el escritor Valentí Puig— cuya obra representa la defensa sostenida de la democracia, el pluralismo y el Estado de derecho frente a las presiones del nacionalismo. El Premio Sant Jordi, que se entregará el 21 de abril en Barcelona, no es solo un reconocimiento literario: es un acto de memoria cívica que recuerda que las ideas, cuando se defienden con rigor y razón, también son una forma de resistencia.
- En un clima donde el independentismo catalán ha tensado durante años las instituciones culturales y políticas, dos voces disidentes reciben ahora un reconocimiento formal por no haber cedido.
- La distinción llega cargada de simbolismo: Sociedad Civil Catalana nació precisamente el 23 de abril de 2014, cuando el movimiento separatista alcanzaba su mayor impulso, y su premio lleva el nombre del patrón de Cataluña.
- Ovejero, con una obra filosófica que desmonta los fundamentos del nacionalismo, y Puig, que abandonó cargos institucionales al percibir una deriva ideológica, encarnan trayectorias de independencia intelectual poco comunes.
- La ceremonia del 21 de abril en el Seminario Conciliar de Barcelona se perfila como un nuevo episodio en la pugna cultural entre el marco constitucionalista y el separatista, con la fecha de Sant Jordi como campo simbólico en disputa.
Sociedad Civil Catalana, la organización surgida para hacer frente al movimiento independentista, ha otorgado su cuarto Premio Sant Jordi a los escritores Félix Ovejero y Valentí Puig. Ambos se unen a una lista de laureados que incluye al filósofo Fernando Savater, al dramaturgo Albert Boadella y al historiador Jordi Canal.
El galardón nació para reconocer a figuras culturales que encarnan el espíritu plural y respetuoso del 23 de abril, festividad de Sant Jordi. La organización, fundada ese mismo día en 2014, subrayó esta semana que ambos escritores habían empleado sus plataformas públicas para defender la democracia y la convivencia «especialmente en aquellos momentos en que el fanatismo y la intolerancia quisieron imponerse».
Ovejero es profesor titular de economía, ética y ciencias sociales en la Universidad de Barcelona. Su obra aborda de forma sostenida el nacionalismo, la democracia y la filosofía política. Su libro más reciente analiza lo que considera la verdadera amenaza para la estabilidad democrática: no el conflicto territorial, sino el nacionalismo en sí mismo.
Puig, escritor y periodista mallorquín, ha publicado en catalán y en castellano a lo largo de una carrera que abarca novela, poesía, ensayo y crítica literaria. Entre sus novelas destacan obras galardonadas con el Premio Josep Pla y el Premio Ramon Llull. En 2014 abandonó sus cargos en el Instituto Cervantes y el Consell Nacional de la Cultura i les Arts alegando una deriva institucional que no compartía.
La entrega del premio tendrá lugar el 21 de abril en el salón principal del Seminario Conciliar de Barcelona, en vísperas de la conmemoración cultural de Sant Jordi, convirtiendo el acto en un nuevo momento de definición en el largo debate entre los marcos constitucionalista e independentista que atraviesa Cataluña.
Sociedad Civil Catalana, the organization that emerged to challenge Catalonia's independence movement, has awarded its fourth Sant Jordi Prize to two writers whose work has consistently defended democratic principles during years of political turbulence. Félix Ovejero and Valentí Puig will share the honor, joining a roster that includes philosopher Fernando Savater, dramatist Albert Boadella, and historian Jordi Canal.
The prize exists to recognize cultural figures who embody what the organization calls the plural and respectful spirit of April 23—St. George's Day, Catalonia's patron saint celebration. Sociedad Civil Catalana, founded on that same date in 2014 as separatist momentum was building, created the award to honor intellectuals who had built substantial careers while defending democracy, coexistence, and the rule of law. The organization's statement this week emphasized that both writers had used their public platforms to champion these values "especially in those moments when fanaticism and intolerance sought to take hold."
Overjero holds a tenured position teaching economics, ethics, and social sciences at the University of Barcelona. His bibliography reads as a sustained intellectual engagement with questions of nationalism, democracy, and political philosophy. His books include studies of secession and democracy, critiques of left-wing reaction, and meditations on the meaning of politics itself. His most recent work, "The Invention of Grievance: Nationalism and the Crisis of Spanish Democracy," analyzes what he sees as the true threat to democratic stability—not territorial conflict, but nationalism itself.
Puig, a Majorcan writer and journalist, has worked across multiple genres and languages, publishing in both Catalan and Spanish. He has written novels, poetry, essays, literary criticism, and opinion journalism. His work on the Catalan writer Josep Pla is particularly noted. Among his novels are "The Man in the Overcoat," which won the Josep Pla Prize, and "Dream Delta," which received the Ramon Llull Prize for fiction. He has also won the Catalan Critics Prize and the Sant Joan Prize for narrative. Before stepping away in 2014, Puig served on the board of the Cervantes Institute and the National Council of Culture and the Arts, departing over what he characterized as institutional drift.
Both writers have collaborated with Sociedad Civil Catalana in the past. The organization notes that their contributions, always rigorous, emerge from common sense and independent judgment—rooted in the conviction that ideas are defended through reason, not assertion. The ceremony awarding the prize will take place on April 21 in the main hall of Barcelona's Conciliar Seminary, a date chosen to align with the broader cultural commemoration of St. George's Day.
Citas Notables
From their respective public platforms, Valentí Puig and Félix Ovejero have consistently defended the principles of democracy, coexistence, and the rule of law, especially in moments when fanaticism and intolerance have sought to prevail.— Sociedad Civil Catalana statement
Their contributions, always rigorous, come from common sense and independent judgment, rooted in the conviction that the defense of ideas is sustained by reason.— Sociedad Civil Catalana statement
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does an organization founded in 2014 still feel the need to give prizes for defending democracy? Hasn't that moment passed?
The moment hasn't passed because the underlying tension hasn't resolved. Catalonia remains divided on fundamental questions about sovereignty and constitutional order. These prizes aren't nostalgia—they're a way of saying that certain intellectual positions still require courage to maintain.
But Ovejero and Puig are established figures with secure positions. What risk are they actually taking?
The risk isn't physical. It's social and professional. In certain Catalan circles, arguing that nationalism threatens democracy more than territorial conflict does—that's a minority position. It requires you to stand apart from a powerful cultural current.
So the prize is partly about visibility? Making sure these voices don't get drowned out?
Partly that. But it's also about legitimacy. By honoring them, Sociedad Civil Catalana is saying: this intellectual tradition—constitutional, pluralist, skeptical of nationalism—is part of Catalan culture too. It's not foreign. It belongs here.
What does it say that both winners are writers and thinkers rather than, say, politicians?
It says the organization believes the real battle is cultural and intellectual, not electoral. Ideas shape what becomes politically possible. If you want to defend democracy, you defend the people who think and write about it seriously.