The prestigious prize, which is awarded annually in the country, goes to an individual or team who makes a notable achievement in the sporting world.

Rafael Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam winner in tennis and the Beijing 2008 Olympic champion, is among the athletes to back Perales.

The 40-year-old swimmer is the most decorated athlete in Spanish Paralympic history and boasts 22 medals, including six golds.

Also backing her cause are World Cup winning football manager Vicente del Bosque and golfer José María Olazábal, who twice won The Masters.

Del Bosque, the Spain coach, announced last January that he intended to put Perales forward for the award.

Along with Nadal and Olazábal, he is a past recipient of the Princess of Asturias prize.

Miguel Carballeda, the President of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, said Perales would be a worthy winner.

"Such leading figures from Spanish sport have shown their solidarity with the best representative of Paralympic sport, and recognise her success and its significance as a symbol and reference for people with disabilities, women and society in general," he said.

Perales lost the use of both of her legs after being diagnosed with neuropathy in 1995.