Penelope Cruz's home town names her honorary citizen

Feb 25, 2009, 9:28 GMT

Madrid - Penelope Cruz, 34, the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar, has been named the 'favourite daughter' - a title equivalent to honorary citizen - of her birth town Alcobendas, media reported Wednesday.

Cruz won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in US director Woody Allen's movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which was shot in Spain.

'I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream,' Cruz said Monday's award ceremony in Los Angeles.

The town of 107,000 residents north of Madrid was delighted that Cruz had mentioned it, mayor Ignacio Garcia de Vinuesa said, explaining that thousands of people had now looked up Alcobendas on the internet.

Cruz had sent a message to young people that 'it is not necessary to have been born in a certain place to achieve what they want,' Garcia de Vinuesa said.

Alcobendas is now planning to ask Cruz to inaugurate some new project such as a cultural centre.

Alcobendas' twin town San Sebastian de los Reyes is also claiming a place in Cruz' biography, the daily El Pais reported.

Cruz had spent more time there than in Alcobendas, the daily quoted local officials as saying.