Enrique Vila-Matas wins Spain's 2026 Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas

The award

Spain's Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, that Enrique Vila-Matas has won the Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas 2026, which carries 50,000 euros. The Barcelona-born writer is 78 years old according to El Mundo, and has published more than 30 books. The jury praised his 'decisive influence' on contemporary narrative, his contribution to the Borgesian tradition in Spanish and a formal originality faithful to the metafictional spirit of Cervantes. It called him 'a master of the swerve' and 'an unclassifiable and surprising author', one of Spain's most recognised writers internationally. El Mundo noted that until now he had received none of the Premio Nacional, the Cervantes or the Princess of Asturias Award.

The phone call

The news reached him at the +Bernat bookshop in Barcelona, where he was talking with the Asturian writer Alejandro Basteiro. He did not pick up the call at first, because the unfamiliar number seemed untrustworthy. The caller was María José Gálvez, who heads the Directorate General for the Book and was phoning to inform him of the award. La Razón described the call as suspicious and said the bookshop is a regular haunt of his. El Mundo also reported his joke that Basteiro's day had changed too, since the Asturian writer now considers himself the next recipient.

Press conference

He spoke to reporters in the same bookshop, alongside his editor at Sexi Barral, Elena Ramírez. He described his approach as playful and rejected the label of metaliterature, which has followed him for years. He said his work reflects on writing itself, and pointed out that Cervantes was already doing this in Don Quixote, where the book discusses chivalry novels. He also argued that there is no autofiction without literary fiction, and added that his aim is always to enjoy himself and that he is ironic about himself. He summed up his view in one line:

“My vision of literature is like a game, something playful.”

Artificial intelligence

Asked about the impact of artificial intelligence, he answered with irony:

“I ask very difficult questions. Very difficult. And I drive it completely crazy.”

He said the AI seemed 'very disoriented', having once told him that a street in Barcelona bears his name and having needed correction on how many translations his books have. La Razón says his books have been translated into about thirty languages.

Works and reception

EL PAÍS describes Kassel no invita a la lógica as the story of a writer invited to Documenta in Kassel, a contemporary art fair known for experimentation, who has to turn himself into a living installation. Bartleby y compañía looks at writers who stop writing, among them Juan Rulfo, Arthur Rimbaud and J.D. Salinger. El Periódico lists El mal de Montano, París no se acaba nunca, Aire de Dylan and the more recent Canon de cámara oscura among his books. The same outlet recalls that his public persona began with an invented 1968 interview with Marlon Brando, made up because he had no English. In an interview with RTVE's El Ojo Crítico, he said he searches a great deal for truth inside fiction, and that irony is part of his personality.