Centroamérica Cuenta Festival to Feature Over 30 Authors Across Three Spanish Cities

Spain is set to host the Centroamérica Cuenta festival, bringing together more than 30 prominent authors from September 10 to 19, 2026. The literary event will span three Spanish cities: La Rinconada in Seville, Madrid, and Barcelona. Founded in Managua in 2013 by Sergio Ramírez, the recipient of the 2017 Cervantes Prize, the festival has evolved into a traveling platform since 2019. Following Ramírez's relocation to Madrid in 2021 due to his forced departure from Nicaragua, the festival now holds two editions annually, alternating between Spain and a country in Central America and the Caribbean. The 2026 edition began in Panama in May, with Spain now taking center stage. La Rinconada will host the initial two days, September 10-11, focusing on narrative, journalism, society, and creativity. Madrid's program, from September 14-18, will feature authors such as Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador), Rosa Ribas (Spain), Álvaro Enrigue (Mexico), and Regina José Galindo (Guatemala), alongside notable figures like former Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla and journalists Carlos Fernando Chamorro and Claudia Paz y Paz. Discussions will delve into democratic institutions, horror and crime literature, historical memory, and the practice of journalism from exile. The festival will conclude in Barcelona on September 18-19, with events at Casa América Cataluña and other venues, including final encounters with Ramírez, Castellanos Moya, Álvaro Enrigue, and Laura Alcoba. Claudia Neira Bermúdez, director of Centroamérica Cuenta, emphasized the festival's importance in forging cultural and literary connections between Ibero-America and Spain, while fostering dialogue on critical regional issues. Previous editions have been held in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.

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For us as a festival, it is important to reach new venues and audiences to strengthen the cultural and literary link between Ibero-America and different regions of Spain, while at the same time promoting dialogue on the region's major issues.