The Premio de Novela Ciudad de Torrevieja was a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 2001 by the publisher Plaza & Janés (subsidiary of Random House) to an original unpublished novel written in Spanish (Castilian). It was created in 2001 by Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja (City Government of Torrevieja) and the Spanish publisher Plaza & Janés, intended to bring local and international prestige to the seaside town from where it takes its name.
Financially, it was among the top most valuable literary prizes in the world, with the winner receiving €360,607 (more than $500,000 dollars as of September 2011). From 2004-2009 there was a runner up who was awarded €125,000; since 2009 there was no secondary prize. The prize was awarded each year, usually in September, on a date set by the award's jury. The jury was always composed of Plaza & Janés' chief editor, Nuria Tey; the Mayor of the City of Torrevieja and a panel of writers and critics that change every year. Initially, the prize was going to be awarded every two years, but in 2003 it was changed to every year for a new, unpublished novel.
As most literary awards in Spain, the Premio de Novela Ciudad de Torrevieja was open to all Spanish-speaking authors in the world. The majority of competing manuscripts came mainly from Spain and Latin America, specifically Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia. The readership of the prize was that of bestselling thrillers, crime/detective, mystery and even political fiction, and much of the marketing and promotion was jointly channeled through Spain's main retail store chain, El Corte Inglés.
On October 2, 2009 the award was given for the first time to a novel written by two authors among more than 440 contesting novels from Spain, Latin America, Europe and the United States.
List of winners
Winners listed first, followed by runners up (only for 2004-2009).