The novel Santander, 1936 published by Anagrama in January 2023, has been chosen as the best book of the year that has just ended by the jury of the Francisco Umbral Prize. For the first time in the history of this award, endowed with 12,000 euros, the decision, in this 13th edition, has been unanimous. Álvaro Pombo (Santander, 84 years old) starts from a true story starring his uncle and grandfather to build an "exceptional novel, against the tide, which shows high literature and the sensitivity of which it is capable", according to the jury.
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The months prior to the outbreak of the Civil War in the city of Santander and its unleashing in the summer of 1936 are the framework of this story in which the affection between a father with republican ideas and a son affiliated with the Falange is placed at the centre. María España, widow of Francisco Umbral and president of the Foundation that bears his name, has communicated the news to the writer and academic, "an author dear to Paco, for many reasons, for his originality, because Pombo's writing never falls into what is expected, it always surprises", according to the press release of the award's decision. Pombo, for his part, was happy to receive the news – "for me the Umbral is a more important prize than the Cervantes" – and recalled an article that the writer and journalist dedicated to him four decades ago entitled 'Pombísimo'.
Cover of 'Santander, 1936', by Álvaro Pombo
The meeting of the jury, chaired by Manuel Llorente, was held this Thursday at the headquarters of the foundation, located in the Francisco Umbral municipal library in Majadahonda, whose council contributes to the endowment of the award. Journalists Juan Cruz, Luis Alemany and Andrea Aguilar; professors Fanny Rubio and Santos Sanz de Villanueva; former minister César Antonio Molina; Carlos Fernández Aganzo, vice-president of the Vocento Foundation, Fernando R. Lafuente of the Ortega Foundation and Carlos Fernández Aganzo of the Francisco Umbral Foundation have been part of this year's jury. The list of winners in previous editions includes Pilar Adón (2022), Santos Juliá (2017), Fernando Aramburu (2016) and Mario Vargas Llosa (2019). The award, which includes a sculpture designed by Alberto Corazón, is scheduled for February.