39th edition of the Gijón Black Week festival

From July 3rd to 12th, 2026, the city of Gijón in Asturias will host the most important crime fiction literary festival, La Semana Negra (The Black Week). This year it has a new venue and will be held in El Arbeyal. It leaves the grounds of the former Naval Gijón shipyard, which had been its home for the last fourteen years, to return to the area around El Arbeyal beach, which hosted it in 2009 and 2010.

With this new setting and a new program, it is preparing to welcome authors from Spain, Mexico, and the Czech Republic, among many others. With the same spirit and, as always, on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea.

The writers' gathering at the 39th edition of Semana Negra will revolve around various themes and will consist of an extensive program of talks, debates, conferences, presentations, and discussions spread across three tents—the Meeting Tent, the Point-Blank Space, and the Word Tent—with simultaneous programming for more than five hours each afternoon.

Following the tradition of alternating between a foreign and a Spanish artist each year, this year's poster will be the work of illustrator Félix Vega (Santiago, Chile, 1971). Author of some of the most important graphic novels produced in recent times in Spanish (Juan Buscamares, Los fantasmas de Pinochet), Félix Vega Encina is one of the most prominent creators of Latin American comics and illustration in recent decades. Capable of combining fantastical elements with components of historical memory and the ancient traditions and legends of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, thanks to its internationally recognized ability to unite popular culture and art.

The Ties of Semana Negra

Speaking of international impact, the ties of Gijón's Semana Negra with other festivals on both sides of the Atlantic continue to grow. Two years ago, the Gijón festival sponsored the creation of a similar festival in Buenos Aires, and last year it did the same with Empatia, held in the Italian province of Latina, with journalist and writer Gian Luca Campagna at the helm.

This year, Semana Negra has been invited to participate in the prestigious Quais du Polar festival, held annually in Lyon, France. Miguel Barrero, director of this Asturian festival, participated in a roundtable discussion on crime fiction events alongside representatives from the Bremen Crime Festival (Germany), the Seoul Writers Festival (Korea), and the Motive Crime and Mystery Festival in Toronto (Canada). These relationships with other festivals and organizations promoting culture, reading, and the crime genre are not limited to a single form of collaboration.

Following this line of alliances with other like-minded institutions, Semana Negra is resuming its collaboration with the Complutense University of Madrid, which had its first experience in 2024 through the summer course "Futures of Crime Fiction," directed by professor and writer Carlos Fortea. This agreement will consist of a joint invitation to an author from Latin America to participate in both events.

Awards

During this celebration, the juries will meet and decide on the festival's awards.

Dashiell Hammett Award for the best Spanish-language crime novel published in 2025.

Silverio Cañada Memorial Award for the best debut Spanish-language crime novel published in 2025.

Rodolfo Walsh Award for the best Spanish-language crime non-fiction work published in 2025.

Spartacus Award for the best Spanish-language historical novel published in 2025.

Celsius Award for the best Spanish-language science fiction and fantasy work published in 2025.

With the aim of preserving the memory of both the Congress and Domingo Villar (Vigo, 1971-2022), one of the most important authors of contemporary Spanish crime fiction, the organizers of the university convention—Àlex Martín Escribà and Javier Sánchez Zapatero—and the writer's family have generously partnered with our festival to create the Domingo Villar-Semana Negra Award, which, starting this year, will recognize the career of an author or The award for Spanish-language crime fiction author will be announced before the festival begins. The winner will headline one of the main events of Semana Negra (Black Week).

Summer in Gijón, thanks to this festival, promises plenty of crime fiction, of course, but also fantasy and science fiction, and literature for younger readers. Historical novels and poetry will also be featured. Comics will continue to occupy a prominent place in the program, as always. And there will be exhibitions. And music. And a market, a book fair, attractions for children and young people, debates, outdoor cafes, talks, and book signings.

This is Semana Negra, and it continues…