Rafa Nadal get the decoration of the Grand Cross of the Order of May Two by regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. | EMILIO NARANJO

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Majorcan tennis star Rafa Nadal jetted back from a quick private break in the Bahamas with his wife Mery Perelló and four other friends, including his sister, to be presented with the decoration of the Grand Cross of the Order of May Two in Madrid as a tribute and award to his entire sports career in which he has become one of the best players in the history of tennis and the best athlete of all the history of Spain thanks to its achievements.

Rafa received this award after being crowned champion of Roland Garros for the thirteenth time just a few weeks ago.

Nadal dedicated this award to all the victims of the pandemic and their families, as well as to health workers and state security forces: “I would like to send a message of encouragement to families who have lost a loved one. Also to all health personnel and, together with them, to the State security forces,” he said.

Rafael Nadal recibe la Gran Cruz de la Orden del Dos de Mayo

The regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, paid tribute to the tennis player, whose trajectory is loaded with “values and effort” that “we all need to remember so much now in this difficult situation” of pandemic, she said.

In 2008 Rafa received the I International Award of the Community of Madrid for his relevance in sport and his merits, not only in his profession but on the human side. That same year he won, precisely, the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports.