Valencia will nameFerran Torres and Alejandro Grimaldo, World Cup champions with the Spanish national team, “adopted sons” of the city. The Valencia City Council has nominated the two Valencian athletes, along with 12 other individuals and organizations, for various honors and distinctions. The recognition and awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, October 6, at Valencia City Hall.
Ferran Torres, born in Foios in 2000 and a product of the Valencia CF youth academy, scored the extra-time goal that secured the title for Spain. The city’s proposal also highlights his involvement with social and environmental initiatives in the city. Alejandro Grimaldo, born in La Pobla de Vallbona in 1995, also came up through the Valencia CF youth academy and is a key member of the Spanish national team in every squad selection.
Along with the two soccer players, the title of “adopted daughter” is also being proposed for the writer and activist Ángela Nzambi Bakale, a member of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) who has lived in Valencia since 1993, and for the former rector of the University of Valencia, Mavi Mestre, the first woman to lead an institution with more than half a millennium of history.
The rest of the honors: favorite medals and titles
As “favorite sons,” the city proposes to honor the founder of the Valencian Institute of Infertility (IVI), José Alejandro Remohí Giménez, a pioneer in assisted reproduction in Spain since 1990; athlete Fátima Diame, an eight-time national long jump champion; and, posthumously, José Ballester Gozalvo, founder and first president of Levante FC, the predecessor of the current Levante UD.
The proposal includes the city’s Gold Medal for six organizations: the Juan Bautista Comes Choir, the Royal Brotherhood of San Antonio Abad, the Corpus Christi Festival, the Illustrious College of Solicitors of Valencia, the Valencia Association of Deaf People, and the Naval Command of Valencia and Castellón. The latter was recognized, among other achievements, for its response during the historic floods and for deploying the ship Galicia to assist municipalities affected by the 2024 storm. The Bronze Medal will be awarded to the Fire Department’s Drone Unit, whose unmanned aerial vehicle technology has been instrumental in searches for missing persons, wildfires, and major events in the city.
