Rosa María Calaf receives Spain's National Television Award for career transforming TV journalism

Rosa María Calaf has been awarded the 2026 Premio Nacional de Televisión (National Television Award) by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, recognizing her pioneering career as a foreign correspondent for RTVE. The jury highlighted her role in expanding the boundaries of television reporting, incorporating innovative narrative techniques and addressing underrepresented topics such as homosexuality. Calaf, the longest-serving correspondent at RTVE, covered major geopolitical hotspots from cities including New York, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Rome, Vienna, Hong Kong, and Beijing. She opened the Moscow bureau in 1987 to cover the Soviet Union, reported from Rome on Italy and the Vatican, from Vienna on Eastern Europe and the Balkans, from Hong Kong and Beijing on Asia-Pacific and China, from New York on the United States and Canada during the Reagan presidency, and from Buenos Aires reorganized the South America bureau. Before RTVE, she was a founding member of TV3 and in 1983 became its programming director. Since retiring, she has remained active in education and public talks. The award, which can recognize a lifetime career, was decided by a jury including Juan Melgar (vice president), Jordi Hurtado (2025 winner), Marta Serrano (ICAA director), Elena Gallego, José María Irisarri, Borja Alonso, Géraldine Gonard, and Elena Neira. Previous winners include Jordi Hurtado, Karlos Arguiñano, Victoria Prego, Andreu Buenafuente, Concha García Campoy, and Paloma del Río.