The poet and novelist Jose Manuel Caballero Bonald was awarded the prestigious Premio Cervantes on Thursday.

The Premio Cervantes is considered to be the most important prize for literature in Spanish and is seen as a form of Nobel Prize for literature in that language.

The award is also considered to be a justification of the work of the 86-year-old writer from the town of Jerez de la Frontera, who has been nominated for the five previous Premio Cervantes without luck.

The Cadiz born writer is one of the most important of the 'Generation of the 50', which is the first generation of writers who did not fight in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), but lived through the following years of poverty and repression of the fascist government of Francisco Franco.

The President of the jury, Dario Vilanueva, who is also the Secretary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, said the award acknowledged Bonald's work as a "novelist poet, a creator of stories and a maestro in the use of the language."

"He is a poet who has still not put his pen down and who is present in our poetic repotoire."

Vilanova also highlighted Bonald's work as a novelist in the 50's and 60's with a series of works which focused on Spain's difficult social situation. Endi

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