Cervantes Prize, literary award established in 1975 by the Spanish Ministry of Culture; the prize was first awarded the following year. It is the most prestigious and remunerative award given for Spanish-language literature. The Cervantes Prize is presented to an author whose Castilian-language work as a whole is judged to have most enriched Spanish and Spanish-American culture. The award is given annually, and there can be no cowinners.
Winners of the Cervantes Prize are listed in the table.
| year | recipient | country of origin |
|---|---|---|
| *Awarded to multiple authors at judges' discretion. | ||
| 1976 | Jorge Guillén | Spain |
| 1977 | Alejo Carpentier | Cuba |
| 1978 | Dámaso Alonso | Spain |
| 1979 | Jorge Luis Borges* | Argentina |
| 1979 | Gerardo Diego* | Spain |
| 1980 | Juan Carlos Onetti | Uruguay |
| 1981 | Octavio Paz | Mexico |
| 1982 | Luis Rosales | Spain |
| 1983 | Rafael Alberti | Spain |
| 1984 | Ernesto Sábato | Argentina |
| 1985 | Gonzalo Torrente Ballester | Spain |
| 1986 | Antonio Buero Vallejo | Spain |
| 1987 | Carlos Fuentes | Mexico |
| 1988 | Maria Zambrano | Spain |
| 1989 | Augusto Roa Bastos | Paraguay |
| 1990 | Adolfo Bioy Casares | Argentina |
| 1991 | Francisco Ayala | Spain |
| 1992 | Dulce María Loynaz | Cuba |
| 1993 | Miguel Delibes | Spain |
| 1994 | Mario Vargas Llosa | Peru |
| 1995 | Camilo José Cela | Spain |
| 1996 | José García Nieto | Spain |
| 1997 | Guillermo Cabrera Infante | Cuba |
| 1998 | José Hierro | Spain |
| 1999 | Jorge Edwards | Chile |
| 2000 | Francisco Umbral | Spain |
| 2001 | Álvaro Mutis | Colombia |
| 2002 | José Jiménez Lozano | Spain |
| 2003 | Gonzalo Rojas | Chile |
| 2004 | Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio | Spain |
| 2005 | Sergio Pitol | Mexico |
| 2006 | Antonio Gamoneda | Spain |
| 2007 | Juan Gelman | Argentina |
| 2008 | Juan Marsé | Spain |
| 2009 | José Emilio Pacheco | Mexico |
| 2010 | Ana María Matute | Spain |
| 2011 | Nicanor Parra | Chile |
| 2012 | José Manuel Caballero Bonald | Spain |
| 2013 | Elena Poniatowska | Mexico |
| 2014 | Juan Goytisolo | Spain |
| 2015 | Fernando del Paso | Mexico |
| 2016 | Eduardo Mendoza | Spain |
| 2017 | Sergio Ramírez | Nicaragua |
| 2018 | Ida Vitale | Uruguay |
| 2019 | Joan Margarit | Spain |
| 2020 | Francisco Brines | Spain |
| 2021 | Cristina Peri Rossi | Uruguay |
| 2022 | Rafael Cadenas | Venezuela |
| 2023 | Luis Mateo Díez | Spain |