Former Irish president Mary Robinson received the Prince of Asturias prize for social sciences for her work as a global rights advocate and used the occasion to call on countries to recognise the rights of immigrants.
"Immigration is, when it comes down to it, the human face of globalisation, said Robinson as she received the award from Spain's Crown Prince Felipe.
The jury had singled out Robinson's "moral strength", her defence of "ethics in the field of politics and academic research" and her "tireless efforts to bring about a world without borders."
Robinson, 62, served as Ireland's first woman president from 1990 to 1997. From 1997 to 2002 she was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, before founding the Ethical Globalization Initiative -- an independent body campaigning for fair trade, human rights and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
William Gates, father of billionaire Microsoft multimedia mogul Bill Gates, meanwhile accepted the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on behalf of his son.
The jury honoured Gates and his wife Melinda for the "example of generosity and philanthropy that they represent faced with the ills that continue to affect the world".
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated more than 10 billion dollars (7.92 billion euros) over the last five years to development projects and programmes to fight illnesses like malaria and AIDS, the jury noted.
Spain's Crown Prince Felipe is the patron of the Asturias foundation which annually hands out eight awards -- each worth 50,000 euros (61,000 dollars).
The awards are made in the fields of communication and humanities, scientific and technical research, social science, arts, letters, international cooperation, international understanding and sport.
Prince Felipe, accompanied by pregnant wife Princess Letizia, said he believed the awards underpinned Spain's and the world's moral heritage.
He warmly praised Robinson for her work, telling the audience that "we need people like Mary Robinson."
US author Paul Auster took the prize for letters, UNICEF was feted for fostering international understanding and the National Geographic Society for communication and humanities.
The Spanish basketball team that recently landed the world championship won the sports award.
Film director Pedro Almodovar was feted for his contribution to the arts and Juan Ignacio Cirac was singled out for scientific and technical research.