SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Benengeli, the literary festival of the Cervantes Institute, is back for its sixth edition.

Established as a leading event within the Spanish language, its in-person and digital activities will take place over a week across five continents, making it a unique and global phenomenon.

It is worth noting that Benengeli 2026 will focus on the space of libraries. This splendid place where the memory of humanity is preserved, access to knowledge is democratized, and communities are consolidated around the mystery of words, information, and dialogue.

A form of paradise, as Borges imagined them, which is a frequent theme in the lives and works of many writers who understand libraries—real or imagined, personal or public—as the realm of imagination. Thirteen cities within the Cervantes Institute network will participate this year in this major event, which will bring together leading voices from the Spanish-language literary world. A landscape where the aesthetic and generational plurality with which literature in our language engages with the reality of this century unfolds.

Sydney, Manila, Brussels, Bordeaux, Madrid, Manchester, Paris, Oran, Dakar, Belo Horizonte, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles will host these virtual and in-person gatherings, joined by guest cities Caguas, Caracas, Edinburgh, and Quito. This vast global circuit also includes multimedia activities by collaborators in Prague, Seville, Bogotá, Lima, Montevideo, Panama City, and Miami, forming a rich tapestry of literature. In this way, Benengeli elevates its vision to consolidate a vast global cultural network, a melting pot of literary cultures that serves as a spiritual library.

More than 100 guests will explore the relationship between literature and the world of libraries in a journey into that personal and collective imagination where books are a sign of recognizing others, of growing toward human intimacy.

Benengeli, the only literary festival that travels across five continents, welcomes you.