The Andalusian Centre for Letters (CAL), managed by the Andalusian Agency for Cultural Institutions under the Ministry of Culture, Historical Heritage and Sport, recorded 38,009 attendees at its activities from January through July 2026. That exceeded the 37,731 people recorded over the same period in 2025, although the number of scheduled activities fell from 272 to 215. The figures indicate increased attendance at the centre’s literary, intellectual and reading-promotion events.
Regional Minister for Culture, Historical Heritage and Sport Patricia del Pozo said the CAL’s programme was attracting “broader and more diverse audiences” across Andalusia, with a particular focus on young people. She described it as a space where literature meets thought, reflection and contemporary creativity.
Among the CAL’s main programmes, *Encuentros en el Centro* drew 4,362 people to 70 events, while *Poesía en el Centro* had 517 attendees across 14 events. The *Pensar en Compañía* series, which invites discussion of current issues, brought 513 people to 10 meetings. Other activities included the *Autores Noveles*, *Conversaciones en el Centro*, *Círculo Negro*, *Literatura y terror* and *Leer en compañía* series, as well as events connected to the literary-residency programme.
The programme featured contemporary writers including Fernando Aramburu, Alan Hollinghurst, Irvine Welsh, John Connolly, Benjamín Labatut, Alejandro Palomas, Andrés Neuman, Belén Gopegui, Bernardo Atxaga, David Trueba, David Uclés, Edurne Portela, Juan Tallón, Lorenzo Silva, Manuel Jabois, Manuel Vilas, Marta Sanz, Mónica Ojeda, Soledad Puértolas, Víctor del Árbol, Yolanda Castaño, Lola Pons, Chantal Maillard, Lana Corujo, Rosario Villajos, Sara Barquinero and Antonio Soler, among others.
**Exhibitions and partnerships**
By July, the CAL had organised 10 exhibitions, which received 27,570 visitors. The exhibitions presented Andalusia’s literary heritage and brought material about authors, movements and significant episodes in literary history to towns and cultural venues across the region.
The centre also held 25 events in collaboration with cultural and academic organisations, drawing 1,259 people. Partners included the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, the University of Granada, CICUS, the Andalusian Film Library, the Málaga Film Festival, the Institut Français, the Alliance Française, the Picasso Museum Málaga, the Carlos Edmundo de Ory Foundation, Hispacomic and the French Lyceum of Málaga. The collaborations linked literature with film, art, philosophy, translation, comics and intellectual debate.
Activities included events at the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, held with the Cervantes Institute, on José Moreno Villa and Andalusian and Spanish architects; events connected with COMICMED and comic conventions in Seville and Huelva; a tribute to filmmaker Pere Portabella organised by the Andalusian Film Library ahead of the centenary of his birth; and a meeting with French writer Jérôme Ferrari, organised with the Institut Français, the Alliance Française and the Picasso Museum Málaga.
The Ministry’s literary programme also took part in book fairs held so far in Almería, Cádiz, Granada, Jaén and Málaga. Its 19 activities attracted 1,498 people and brought the CAL together with bookshops, publishers, writers and readers.
**Reading programmes and commemorations**
The CAL’s Reading Clubs Network, operating in all eight Andalusian provinces, held 676 activities and had about 10,100 participants during the period. Other initiatives included events with Edurne Portela and programmes linked to the University of Málaga, the IGIUMA Feminist Reading Club and the Italian-language workshop *Doble Mirada*.
Commemorations included 12 activities attended by 597 people. They marked International Women’s Day, World Book Day and Poetry Day, as well as the centenaries of Michel Foucault and José Manuel Caballero Bonald, the work of Gilles Deleuze and the 150th anniversary of Manuel de Falla’s birth.