Seville, 22 June 2007. The Focus-Abengoa Foundation held the prize-giving ceremony for the Focus-Abengoa awards 2006, today at 1pm at the Hospital de los Venerables, the Foundation’s headquarters. The event was overseen by Felipe and Javier Benjumea, Chairmen of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, Juan Antonio Carrillo Salcedo, Vice-chairman of the Foundation, and Anabel Morillo the Foundation’s Director General.

Over the years this event has acquired special significance. Started in 1982, this important annual ceremony for both the Foundation and Abengoa, allows these entities to renew their commitment to progressing and promoting social actions aimed at training individuals through their contact with the winners.

The awards that were presented this morning were: the prizes for end of studies; the prizes for the results obtained in participation in programs or in professional improvement courses; the prize for the best doctoral thesis on a Sevillian subject; and the Focus-Abengoa 2006 painting prize, which is well known for its international nature and the quality of the participants.

In the 2005-2006 year, the Foundation granted more than €170,000 for 1,534 study grants for various levels of education to 829 families in Spain and Latin America.

The end of studies awards for obligatory secondary education were given to Pilar Alcantarilla Romero, Daniel García Leis and Acela Julieta Márquez Soto; for the Baccalaureate the first prize went to Mª del Pilar Guillén Hinojosa and second prize to Mirari Uzuriaga Iraolagoitia; for higher education training, first prize was awarded to Bernardo Valdivia García and second prize to Gaizka San Emeterio Gómez; for diplomas and university schools, first prize was presented to Cristina García Rodríguez and second prize to María del Socorro Mederos Silva; and finally, for technical colleges and faculties, Juan José Rebollo de la Bandera and Ramón Cano Fernández collected first and second prize respectively.

For results obtained from participation in programs or courses for professional improvement organised or promoted by Abengoa or its subsidiaries, the prizes were awarded to Laura Castro Fernández, an employee of Bioetanol Galicia, Pablo Zaragoza Ramírez from Gestión Integral de Recursos Humanos (GIRH) and Teodoro López del Cerro from Solucar Energía.

The prize for best doctoral thesis on a Sevillian subject, which includes a prize of €3,000, was presented to Rocío Fernández Berrocal for her work “Juan Ramón Jiménez and Seville”. It was an exhaustive study of the intense bibliographic and literary relationships between Juan Ramón Jiménez and the city of Seville. The thesis highlighted Seville’s status as an essential reference for the poet Moguer and how the city takes on huge literary importance in his verse, especially in his two books entitled, “Sevilla” and “Diario de un poeta recien casado” (Diary of a recently married poet).

The Focus-Abengoa painting prize, which has a long tradition and well known reputation, has become one of the leading European and American awards in the arts world. This international award allows the Foundation to renew its commitment to contemporary art, and following the concerns and desires of its creators, it helps to produce an exchange of artistic experiences beyond our borders, as well as publicly recognising the artists and acting as an incentive for their professional challenges. This year the award, worth €24,000, was given to Garikoitz Cuevas Abeledo for his work "Apóstoles involuntarios" (Involuntary apostles). The second prizes, worth €6,000 each, were presented to Aurora Perea Macías for "Secreto Privado" (Private Secret) and Kim Squaglia for her work "Scend".

After more than sixty years of corporate history, Abengoa’s international position is linked to its commitment to ensuring economic and social progress, contributing to preserving the environment and supporting what is known as corporate social responsibility.

The Focus-Abengoa foundation has become a valuable instrument in Abengoa’s culture. Not only is it capable of supporting the professional and human development of its employees, but also of relating to society’s new sensibilities as a whole, globally managing intangible assets whose influence benefits and pervades the company’s own values and objectives. Created by Abengoa in 1982, the Foundation has a mission to implement Abengoa's social action policy, which it does on a non-profit basis for general interest purposes, focussing on welfare, educational, cultural, scientific, research and technological development.

The activities of the Foundation have grown, accurately fulfilling its founding objective to promote culture in its various artistic and scientific forms. This is shown in the various educational initiatives begun every year by the Foundation, such as the Focus-Abengoa grants program, the agreements reached with various Spanish and foreign universities, the Javier Benjumea Chair for Business and Economics Ethics at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, or the Javier Benjumea Puigcerver prize at the University of Seville.