The ceremony of the second edition of the Madrileño del año, which will award writer Mario Vargas Llosa in 2022, will be held on Monday, Oct. 10, at the Royal Theater in the Spanish capital.

The Peruvian-Spanish novelist has been chosen as 'Madrileño of the year' by a jury that has valued the love that he has for Madrid.

“Defender in different tribunes of the unity of Spain. His promotion of Spanish as the common language of all Ibero-Americans. In addition to having been Madrid's ambassador on multiple occasions, not by position but, with more merit, out of love for the city in which he has lived for years. He is an example of our Madrid spirit of welcoming everyone who wants to be as such,” reads a statement from the award organizers.

The Madrileño of the Year award seeks to distinguish the work of those people who stand out for their contribution to the economic, social or cultural development of Madrid.

The award is organized by the magazine Vivir Madrid, from the Sganmedios publishing house, insurance company DKV, Banco Sabadell, the legal firm ONTIER and Estudio de Comunicación.

Who is Mario Vargas Llosa?

Born in Arequipa, Peru in 1936, Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer and politician, who has been living in Madrid for decades.

He studied law in Peru and is also Doctor of Philosophy for the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. 

His work, mainly influenced by the French school of thought, has been translated into more than 30 languages ​​and includes plays, essays, short stories and novels. In his work, Vargas Llosa has not only portrayed the history of his native country, but also realities of all of Latin America. 

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, the Cervantes Prize in 1994, and the Prince of Asturias Prize in 1986.

He is a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, the French Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

As a journalist, Vargas Llosa has collaborated with the Spanish newspaper El País and with the cultural magazine Letras Libres. In 2013, he received the "Columnists" award from the Spanish morning newspaper El Mundo in recognition of his work as a journalist.

In 2011 he was named the first Marquis of Vargas Llosa by the former King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

Currently, he is one of the best-known Latin American authors in the world.