Chilean author Isabel Allende won the 2026 Premio Planeta in Barcelona on Thursday, taking home the one million euro prize for La hora antes del alba
, a sequel to her 1982 breakthrough novel The House of the Spirits
.
The award ceremony, held on Thursday evening in Barcelona and presided over by Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, brought a surprise victory for the 84-year-old author. The Premio Planeta is one of the most commercially lucrative literary awards in the Spanish-speaking world, carrying a top prize of one million euros, alongside a runner-up prize of 200,000 euros.
For Allende, who has sold roughly 80 million copies of her books worldwide across a career spanning decades, submitting her work to a literary competition was an entirely new experience. I had never entered a contest to avoid the humiliation of finishing at the very back
, Allende said during the gala. So this is very important to me. I decided to take the risk a bit late in life, because it seemed to me to be a challenge as dangerous as getting married again at 80 years old.
The winning novelist received the distinction from the hands of the Spanish monarchs before 1,300 invited guests who filled the gala with a prolonged and resounding ovation.
Returning to the Characters of La Casa de los Espíritus
The winning novel, La hora antes del alba
, revisits the literary universe that first made Allende an international name forty-five years ago. While her subsequent historical works such as Hija de la fortuna
and Retrato en sepia
explored eras preceding her debut, this new book centers on Alba, the granddaughter of Esteban Trueba and Clara del Valle from the original family saga.
Isabel Allende said that this novel is the conclusion to the complex universe of the characters from The House of the Spirits
, and that it is the story of Alba, the granddaughter, in the years of terror.
The narrative centers on Alba in the years of terror, strengthened by motherhood, by the love of two men and by the quiet presence of the spirits of her past. Allende, the niece of the late socialist president Salvador Allende, fled Chile in 1973 after the military coup against her uncle.
In her extensive bibliography, Allende has frequently returned to themes of exile and the struggles of women confronting violence, as seen in earlier works like De amor y de sombra from 1984, Eva Luna
from 1987, and Inés del alma mía from 2006. Her personal life has also left deep marks on her writing, notably in her 1994 autobiographical book Paula
, which she penned while her daughter Paula lay in a coma following a severe medical crisis.
A Major Editorial Shift to Grupo Planeta
Beyond the trophy and the seven-figure purse, the win marks a significant commercial realignment in Hispanic publishing. After more than forty years published under Plaza & Janés — an imprint of Penguin Random House — Allende has signed with Grupo Planeta, the Spanish publishing giant that funds and organizes the annual literary prize.
The competition itself drew 1,424 original manuscripts for its edition. Allende submitted her manuscript under the pseudonym Luz Ventura with the working title Los que faltan
, beating out runner-up Sergio Hernández Carrasco. Hernández, a 32-year-old Spanish writer and screenwriter, secured the 200,000-euro runner-up prize with his novel La añoranza
, which opens in 1959 Barcelona.
| Award Category | Recipient | Work | Prize Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Isabel Allende | La hora antes del alba | un millón de euros |
| Runner-up | Sergio Hernández Carrasco | La añoranza | €200,000 |
Publication Plans and Upcoming Public Appearances
Readers will not have to wait long to purchase the winning sequel. La hora antes del alba
is scheduled to hit bookstores in a few weeks.