Madrid, July 3, 2023.
At a solemn gala dinner held last June, the Royal Spanish Naval League, a century-old institution, awarded Kitín Muñoz with the Naval Gold Cross. Among other authorities, Admiral José María Treviño Ruíz, in reserve status and who on his day was the military representative of Spain in NATO, was also decorated.
Kitín Muñoz was accompanied, once again, by Dr. Manuel de la Peña, with whom he maintains a very close friendship and whom he calls “guerrilla comrade”. De la Peña is an academic, professor of cardiology and president of the European Institute of Health and Social Welfare. De la Peña stresses that Kitín’s past as a Green Beret has allowed him to develop a spirit of explorer, value his courage, bravery and discipline to cross oceans on reed rafts or go down the Nile in a canoe. The explorer, married to the Princess Kalina of Bulgaria has traveled to Madrid to receive this Naval award, which adds to the many recognitions she is receiving for her admirable work as “Ambassador”. As he himself points out “it is a recognition of my expeditions of experimental archeology of primitive navigation, and it means a great honor and support”. Kitín is Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Morocco, personally appointed by King Mohamed VI. For more than 25 years He is a member of The Explorers Club, the world center for exploration, an important research and exploration organization, born in New York in 1904. His beloved wife, Her Royal Highness Princess Kalina, sponsored by the astronaut, has just joined it. Richard Garriott and his wife Laetitia, partner of Elon Musk. Spanish navigator and explorer Kitín Muñoz was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in April 1997, by virtue of his commitment to promoting indigenous cultures and masterpieces of the World Heritage. In this regard, he stresses that “he always draws international attention to the dangers of environmental destruction and how ‘progress’ is imposed on indigenous cultures and their ways of life.” The son-in-law of King Simeon of Bulgaria adds: “I enlisted Volunteer in the Special Operations Company. When I swore the flag, I kissed the national ensign, like one who kisses the love of his life. With great emotion, I committed myself to Spain, my homeland; to the Spanish, my compatriots. “If I had to be “I said then,” I would give my life in defense of Spain. instructor, retired commander Terencio Pérez, published the book ‘Spanish Green Berets’ (Galland Books), which contains 30 stories in which Spanish soldiers, men and women, risked their lives in conflict zones. Kitín Muñoz stresses that “the Special Operations commanders taught me values that I carry engraved in the depths of my soul as a soldier and that still guide my life today. Understand the meaning of the words, loyalty, solidarity, generosity, discipline, sacrifice. The Green Berets also taught me to live in nature and of nature, to take care of it”. Kitín, “the guerrilla fighter”, as he defines himself, points out that “green beret training has helped him overcome all the adversities he has faced had in his life, above all, in the capacity for suffering and overcoming. I learned discipline and austerity”. That is why he always utters a maxim: “when the body tells you enough, the mind tells you go ahead”. One of the exploits of the explorer was to cross the Pacific Ocean: “I have made four rafting expeditions. I have sailed a total of more than 25,000 kilometers in primitive rafts, with 37 crew members from indigenous tribes in the three Mata-Rangi rafts, and four Spaniards, in my first raft, the Uru raft.” Kitín relates that “on Easter Island, I lived 5 years preparing the Mata Rangi Expedition, I received a visit from the King and Queen of Spain, who traveled to give me their support, and four months later that of the Prince of Asturias, who stayed to sleep in the camp on Anakena beach. After all this, my indigenous crew and I suffered a dramatic shipwreck.” “We spent three days in the middle of the ocean waiting for rescue, which never came. It was a great lesson in life and a great experience, which once overcome makes you stronger and more humble”. Kitín has an excellent relationship with his father-in-law, King Simeon of Bulgaria: “with King Simeon, it is impossible not to have good relationship. Education is in his DNA. He is a king and a good man”. Kalina from Bulgaria and Kitín Muñoz are now immersed in the preparations for a trip to Antarctica: “we are focused on the study and analysis of the waters of the Antarctic Ocean, as a project of the United Nations program “.And regarding the challenges he hopes to achieve in the future, he points to a very special one: “a family rafting expedition through the Pacific. I have waited until our son Simeon was older; now that he has just turned 16, I begin to dream of doing it “. Kitín Muñoz, who maintains an old friendship with Felipe VI, highlights his great quality:” he is a great King “.
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