2026 Canary Islands Literature Day to Celebrate Alfonso García-Ramos

The 2026 Canary Islands Literature Day, held annually on February 21, will celebrate Alfonso García-Ramos (1930-1980). He was a writer, journalist, and cultural leader who played a key role in modernizing literature in the Canary Islands and championing democracy during a difficult time. The 2026 program, which will run all year, aims to explore his work in depth.

García-Ramos was chosen because of his important intellectual contributions during Spain's recent history, a period of dictatorship and transition. His writing not only brought new life to storytelling in the Canary Islands but also defended culture and freedom. The Literature Day, started in 2006 to honor José de Viera y Clavijo, aims to highlight the unique and rich literary heritage of the Canary Islands by featuring authors like García-Ramos.

The 2026 program will focus on bringing García-Ramos's work back into the public eye. A key part of this will be re-publishing his most important writings. This involves both his original publications and working with publishers who own the rights to his texts. Plans include an anthology featuring his best literary pieces, along with a biography and excerpts from his main novels, showing his dual career as a writer and journalist. New, updated editions of important books like Teneyda y otros relatos, Guad, and Tristeza sobre un caballo blanco are also planned. These will be introduced by experts in different towns and will be available at book fairs and public libraries.

The cultural plans also include digitizing the newspaper La Tarde from when García-Ramos was its director. This project, supported by the Canary Islands Government, will make his journalistic work and this historical archive available to everyone. There will also be podcasts about him, a series of in-person and online talks about his literary and intellectual contributions, and informational materials for various media and cultural venues. To round out the program, there will be workshops on storytelling in the Canary Islands for the general public and Philology students, plus educational materials for high school students to introduce his work into schools.

The celebration will begin on Thursday, February 26, with an official event at Espacio La Granja in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. At this event, the literary show "Chantecler, improvised pseudonym" by Clapso Producciones will debut before touring several islands.