“In Spain it has been a long time since they have had a crisis that demands heroism from people”

The Mexican author David Tuscanywhich was recognized this Tuesday with the XXIX Alfaguara Novel Prize for the work ‘The blind army’has assured that in Spain “there has been no crisis that requires heroism from people for a long time.”

“In Spain it has been a long time since they have had crises that demand heroism from people. People have to be tested to know what they are made of and I don’t know exactly what the Spaniards are made of, since they haven’t been tested“, said the author this Tuesday in statements to the media.

In ‘The Blind Army’, which will hit bookstores on March 26, the author gives a symbolic, “almost mythical” reading about the “war, power and resistance”, as explained by the jury, and mixes history, invention and poetry to create a story inspired by medieval chronicles and one of the episodes of the Byzantine wars in 1014.

Thus, Toscana has assured that although he did not construct the novel thinking about the current times of war, he does note that this theme is distilled in his book.

“The times we live in are not for heroes because the majority of us are not subject to that crisis that leads you to distinguish who you are.. Of course, in Ukraine many people who did not know it become heroes – men, women, young adults, the elderly – (…) I know that there are more conflicts in the world but the one that affects me is the one that I follow and catches my attention,” the writer added and then explained that having family in Poland – where he spends more time, in addition to Madrid and Mexico – the war in Ukraine has followed him closely.

On the other hand, Toscana – which received the award this Tuesday in the Crystal Gallery of the Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid – has assured that although it has won other awards, it was “missing” the Alfaguara, the “main” one. “It’s the one we all want“, he acknowledged.