The ENAIRE Foundation to inaugurate the PHotoESPAÑA Festival in Santander

On 26 June at 19:30, the PHotoESPAÑA Festival will be inaugurated at the Naves de Gamazo Art Centre with two exhibitions: Mirabilia by Joan Fontcuberta, and the group exhibition from the 18th edition of the ENAIRE Foundation Photography Awards.

The Secretary of State for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, and President of the ENAIRE Foundation, José Antonio Santano, along with María Santoyo, Director of the PHotoESPAÑA Festival, will inaugurate the exhibitions

The exhibitions will be officially opened at the Naves de Gamazo Art Centre by José Antonio Santano, Secretary of State for Transport and Sustainable Mobility and President of the ENAIRE Foundation, together with María Santoyo, Director of the PHotoESPAÑA Festival.

The event will be attended by Joan Fontcuberta, who will lead a guided tour, and by the winners and finalists of the 18th edition of the ENAIRE Foundation Photography Awards, who will have previously taken part in two photography-related panel discussions.

The ENAIRE Foundation will also inaugurate the Virtual Reality Hub, featuring 360-degree drone photographs of Spanish landscapes, as well as the immersive 360 Tour for VR headsets of the retrospective exhibition A Throw of the Dice by Chema Madoz.

[Joan Fontcuberta between Margarita Asuar and José Antonio Santano].

Lifetime Achievement Award and 18th edition of the Photography Awards

The ENAIRE Foundation’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award was granted to Joan Fontcuberta, who has created the exhibition Mirabilia, a project that brings together a selection of his most recent works (several of them previously unseen), along with some of the most iconic series from his earlier career. The exhibition offers a journey through more than fifty years of artistic work, with recurring themes such as the conflict between reality and fiction, and between the natural and the artificial.

According to Sema D’Acosta, curator of the exhibition, “this show—one of the most extensive set up by the artist in Spain in recent years—confirms that his ongoing explorations, which define his style by pushing the boundaries of photography and questioning what we see, have been heading in the right direction”. 

Margarita Asuar, Managing Director of the ENAIRE Foundation, states that “for the past decade, we have been witnessing the emergence of a new visual regime—a paradigm shift in the way we see—where Fontcuberta has become a key artist thanks to his ability to provoke critical thinking. It is an honour for the ENAIRE Foundation to recognise Fontcuberta with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and we are confident that the public will both appreciate and enjoy his work”.

At the same time, the group exhibition of the ENAIRE Foundation Photography Awards will also open, featuring the three winning entries and 15 finalists, including the special PhE mention.

The ENAIRE Foundation Photography Awards have been held since 2005 and have established themselves as a diverse and comprehensive showcase of the Spanish photographic scene, as well as a prestigious award that helps to boost professional careers in the art of photography. Their relevance is further supported by the Foundation’s partnership with PHotoESPAÑA. 

The 18th edition of the ENAIRE Foundation Photography Awards, held in 2025, received 1,375 entries from 547 professional artists (246 women and 291 men), reaffirming the award’s standing as one of the most significant platforms for advancing artistic careers both nationally and internationally.

“Among all the entries submitted, the jury particularly highlighted the strong connection to current social issues. At the ENAIRE Foundation, we are grateful to all participants for their professionalism and social awareness, because photography is undoubtedly a powerful tool to transform reality and provoke thought”, explains Margarita Asuar.

This year's winners were:

1st Prize: Tanit Plana, for Stress Position.  An image that powerfully and sensitively captures themes of exclusion and pain through an empathetic, collaborative, and deeply human lens.

2nd Prize: Daniel Ochoa de Olza, for La Frontera (The Border), a photographic cycle that connects landscape, artistic installation, and climate urgency in a visually striking work.

3rd Prize: Françoise Vanneraud, for El eco de las cumbres (The Echo of the Peaks), a piece that poetically and subtly denounces the violence of the invisible borders imposed on nature.

The PHotoESPAÑA Special Mention was awarded to José Quintanilla for his work Et in Arcadia Ego.

Visitors will also be able to view the photographs of the 14 finalists of the 18th ENAIRE Foundation Photography Awards.

It is worth noting that at Seve Ballesteros – Santander Airport, travellers are welcomed by the art capsule managed by the ENAIRE Foundation, which currently features works by Fontcuberta that create a link between the airport space and the Naves de Gamazo Art Centre.

“The Foundation’s strategic focus is to democratise and decentralise culture, which means bringing it to different regions, making it more accessible to the public. And that’s exactly what we’re doing this year by bringing the Photography Awards exhibitions to Naves de Gamazo for the first time, and by turning the airport into a prelude to the Art Centre”, explains Margarita Asuar.

Activities prior to the opening of the exhibition 

Prior to the exhibition’s inauguration, the ENAIRE Foundation is organising two photography-focused panel discussions under the title Primer Plano (Close-Up), featuring Joan Fontcuberta along with several award-winning and finalist photographers from the 18th edition of the Photography Awards. They will share their artistic perspectives, career journeys, and reflections on the photographic medium.

“In Primer Plano, contemporary photography takes centre stage. That’s why we’ve organised these discussions — to bring photography closer to the public through events where the 2025 ENAIRE Foundation finalists and award-winning photographers will reveal a more personal side of themselves as creators. It’s a unique opportunity to get to know them, understand their thinking, their concerns, and how they approach their profession. This is a parallel activity to the exhibitions, open to all audiences — whether photography enthusiasts, professionals, or those just beginning to explore this powerful art form”, says Margarita Asuar.

The Primer Plano forum will take place on Wednesday, 25 June at 19:00, and Thursday, 26 June at 18:30.

Inauguration of the VIRTUAL REALITY HUB 

At the Naves de Gamazo Art Centre, the ENAIRE Foundation will also inaugurate on 26 June a space equipped with virtual reality headsets, showcasing contemporary art exhibitions organised throughout 2024, offering a second chance to those who missed them initially. Anyone who wanted to see A Throw of the Dice by Chema Madoz will now be able to experience it using 360° VR headsets.   

Additionally, the Virtual Reality Hub will allow visitors to explore iconic natural landscapes of Spain through the latest VR technologies applied to spectacular drone-recorded environments.

"The digital age opens new doors to art and place. Technology enables us to preserve and share cultural experiences, bringing art and history closer to a wider audience. Our intention is to create an archive of exhibitions that endure over time as a record of the ENAIRE Foundation’s programming, and to highlight the use of drones in the cultural sector.  Our mission is not simply to promote Santander; it’s much broader — to preserve the art exhibitions we organise, to bring the value of aeronautical culture and art free of charge to all corners of the world, and to represent Spain’s cultural brand. For this reason, we have been present in Spanish airports for 30 years, and we are now modernising our cultural management by implementing digital museum resources in all our exhibitions. These are already accessible through the Window on Art and Aeronautics installed at Naves de Gamazo and on our website. Now, we are taking a further step by presenting the VIRTUAL REALITY HUB at the Naves de Gamazo Art Centre, where the public can enjoy spectacular Spanish landscapes and the magnificent Chema Madoz exhibition through virtual reality headsets”, explains Asuar.

The Virtual Reality Hub will open on Thursday, 26 July at 20:15.

Access to all ENAIRE Foundation activities is free of charge.

About ENAIRE Foundation

Is a cultural institution of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility that, in addition to managing, preserving and exhibiting the ENAIRE Collection of Contemporary Art, engages in a comprehensive annual programme of activities that focus on aeronautical art and culture. Notably, it is one of the institutions that currently provides the most support to photography through its annual prizes - which have become a benchmark for professional photographers - and by hosting exhibits.

It is the only foundation in Spain that combines the two seemingly disparate themes of art and aeronautical culture, bringing them together by undertaking a programme of activities that promote the study, research, knowledge and dissemination of aeronautical culture, integrating history and modernity to raise awareness of the world of aviation in our country.

The Naves de Gamazo are the first permanent home of the ENAIRE Collection of Contemporary Art, an example of collaboration between government agencies that was made possible thanks to the partnership and joint efforts of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the Government of Cantabria, through the Office for Culture, Tourism and Sport, and the Port Authority of Santander, which share the operating expenses of the centre in order to ensure the present and future viability of this cultural project.

ENAIRE Foundation is implementing digital museum resources to boost the democratisation of art and make it accessible from anywhere in the world. These new museum resources are now available on the Foundation's website.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Sustainable Transport and Mobility, it provides air traffic control services during the en route and approach phases of all flights to and from Spain and overflights. In addition, it manages communications, navigation and surveillance services from ENAIRE in the airspace and the entire AENA airport network in Spain and provides aerodrome air traffic control services in 21 airports, including the busiest.

ENAIRE is the fourth largest European air navigation service provider, and it is a member of international partnerships A6 Alliance, SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) and collaborates closely with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

ENAIRE has received the highest score in Europe on the aviation safety key performance indicator for four years in a row. It has also been awarded the EFQM 600 Seal for its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.