First of all, I want to express that, even after many thoughts, I consider that this homage is absolutely not merited. It has been an excess of benevolence of my disciples and friends towards me that made them organize this week of activities that finish today. I will never forget the occasion given to me to greet my old friends and be able to meet many others.

 I want to thank publicly all my friends and colleagues of the Organising Committee for their extraordinary work. I would like to mention especially Olga and Vicente. I will never forget your hard work, day after day.
 I remember now the years spent in the universities of Santiago de Compostela, where I was formed, Granada and Valencia. In all of them, my best experience was the possibility to carry on an educational labor and to share scientific discussions with different groups of young mathematicians, with extraordinary capabilities for mathematical investigation.
 I would not be here today without the support of many people. I have to mention first my parents and my sister, in a small Galician village. I cannot forget my friends Raquel and Gumersindo. Then I want to thank specially my family, My wife Tata and my children Marta, Bruno and Marcos, who fill us with pride and satisfaction looking how, each of them from their respective works. Without all of them, I would never have been able to develop my career in the university.
 At this moment, I miss five persons who cannot be here tonight, which have been exceptional friends:

For personal reasons, René Deheuvels could not attend. With him I had the privilege of learning about some items, which were fundamental to develop my investigations during my entire career.
I remember that my first article of investigation was a short note published on the "Revista Hispano-americana de la Real Sociedad Matemática Española" in 1966. The referee for this note was Luis A. Santaló. In 1967 I could meet him in person. I always felt a great admiration towards his scientific work, and I have been trying to understand it for many years now. But I will never forget the two weeks we spent in Girona, when I had the unique opportunity to discuss directly with one of the most universal spanish mathematicians.
 I want also to mention A. Lichnerowicz, who always helped the best he could. The doors of his office in the "Collège de France" and those of his own house were always open for me.

 The fatality wanted that Alfred Gray missed this event. I met him in 1974 and I am proud to consider myself as his introducer in different spanish universities.
For three consecutive years, Alfred visited us as an invited professor at the Universities of Santiago, Granada and Valencia. One day, in this last university and sharing some spanish "serrano" ham (which he liked a lot), he asked me if the following year we would meet each other at Salamanca. I was surprised, but he explained me that he would like to know Salamanca by working with me there in my new post.

My first teacher at the university, and close friend, Enrique Vidal deserves a special mention. After many years in the university, I can affirm that Don Enrique (as his disciples affectionately used to call him) was one of the craftsmen of the development of mathematics in Spain in the second half of the twentieth century. With his talents, his dedication, his fighting spirit and his vision, I consider him as an example for young mathematicians.
My dedication to my work would have been the same, had I spent the last thirty six years in another job, and not as a university teacher. I always tried to keep one idea in my mind: defending the universality of the University, avoiding localism and lobbies.

An important goal for me from the moment I started my work in Differential Geometry (following the example of Don Enrique) was discussing with renowned mathematicians of this speciality. This enabled me to travel and to meet other people and cultures. This is also an important aspect of university life, and I would recommend it to young researchers, as our world is becoming smaller and smaller.
I cannot forget the scientific meetings in which I took part as a member of the Organising Committee: first in Santiago in 1967 and 1971, and later in Valencia and the "International Meetings of Peñiscola" in the 1982, 1985 and 1988. I will also mention the Workshop that took place in Valencia in 1985, with the collaboration of D. Johnson. Some of the attendees to these events are here today. I believe they can judge the scientific interest of these meetings.

All the people who are interested in the Pure Mathematical research are aware of its difficulty and of the lack of comprehension from the society. I always considered as an important goal the search for concrete applications for mathematics. In this direction, I am very proud of the work carried out by Ximo Gual, by applying Integral Geometry theories to Medicine through Stereology. For myself, I hope to find time to study these questions, and would be happy if others should also follow this line of investigation.
The way spanish mathematics have reached a high level, hard to imaginable some decades ago, is a great satisfaction for me. This was possible thanks to the management of many professors, but most of all to the talent and dedication of the young spanish mathematicians. One of my greatest satisfactions has been to see how many young people who began to study with me are now professors in seven different spanish universities, and have become themselves illustrious mathematicians who have already created their own scientific schools, each in their own speciality. It is a great pride for me to see how my disciples surpassed their mentor in our scientific work.
Personally, I consider that tenacity is a great virtue to achieve any undertaken project. It is very important to fight and not being defeated beforehand. Those who know me know that I was never afraid by the difficulties of a new challenge in my professional career, when I was convinced of being on the right way. If it has not been so, I would never have left the University of Santiago, where I felt really at ease for personal and professional reasons.
I will always remember with affection of how, with the help and collaboration of many friends and colleagues, we were able to reconstitute the Royal Spanish Mathematical Society when it was in a situation of total inactivity. I hope that this society will become in the coming years an institution that, through its activities, reflects exactly the good level of mathematics in Spaining. I am sure it will.
I want also remember all those who have been my colleagues in the Universities of Santiago, Granada and Valencia. With all of them I have always tried to maintain a cordial and honest friendship.
I can assure you that I will never forget what I have lived here during the last week. In the future (maybe when I do not work anymore on mathematics as a professional), I will watch the recordings of the activities that took place here and remember these moments.
Finally, I want to thank all the peopled who shared with me all these days. I hope that the congress that finished today has been profitable. Please believe it, you all have a friend in Valencia.