Hundreds of people from Benidorm attend the tribute of the maximum exponent of Beach Volleyball in Spain
The central pavillion of Palau d'Esports takes the name of the beach volleyball player from Benidorm, Liliana Fernández Steiner. In an official ceremony which was attended by hundreds of people, the athlete and the mayor, Toni Pérez, unveiled the commemorative plaque of this designation, approved by the plenary session on 29 August and has been effective on Monday after finishing to the player her international season. The event was attended by all members of the municipal corporation with the Senator Agustín Almodóbar who wanted to attend this tribute that the city pays the first sportwoman of the city and who has her name in a pavillion. After unveiling the plaque the City Council wanted to surprise the athlete with a huge canvas printed with her image located inside the Palau d'Esports next to the main track. The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, thanked first the presence of representatives of sports groups and invited them to dream "I know Lili since her birth and I know that has gone through many sports until she chose beach volleyball with which she has managed to compete at the highest level. We have lived with her the dream of playing several Olympic Games in London and Rio, and I am convinced that success is coming. Now the goal is Tokyo 2020. This homage is deserved and so I can only say: keep dreaming and make your people dream. " The councillor for Sports, Ana Pellicer, said that it is "a deserved recognition of a sportswoman, an example of sacrifice, perseverance, effort and improvement," and is also "the greatest exponent of Beach Volleyball in our country" with a great record: five consecutive Championships Spain; a second and a third place in the European Championship; medals at the Open World Tour and in two World Tour Grand Slam; and in London Olympics and Brazil. Furthermore as a woman I am happy today to recognize Liliana Fernández Steiner, after previous awards to Guillermo Amor, Antonio López and Raúl Mesa. I also want to do a tribute to her partner Elsa Baquerizo, her coach Daniel Rodríguez, the clubs: Tanit, Poniente and Playas de Benidorm and her family. "Finally the honoree athlete Liliana Fernández Steiner, thanked Benidorm City Council the recognition made "thank you very much to all political parties to make this a reality and people from Benidorm in general. I also want to thank my family and friends all the support shown during this time, for the unconditional support especially when they did not know if this would be fine. This has given me a lot of strength to fight everyday and accomplish my goals. But especially there is a person who has helped me, that is my mother, because without her, it would not have been easy. Finally, I want to thank my coach and my partner who have accompanied me on this hard way for ten years, and who are already like my family. "
