Hoyo de Manzanares is set to participate in the Festival eñe 2026, one of the leading events dedicated to literature and contemporary creation in Spanish. This cultural initiative aims to make literature accessible to diverse audiences, promote dialogue between generations, and strengthen the links between culture and education.
The festival, organised by La Fábrica in collaboration with the Hoyo de Manzanares Town Hall, has developed a unique programme that embodies the interdisciplinary and participatory spirit of eñe. This initiative transforms literature into a meeting point with other artistic disciplines, such as cinema and journalism, while placing a special emphasis on the involvement of young people and the educational community.
Key events at the festival
The main events will take place at the Municipal Theatre Las Cigüeñas on 18 and 20 November, featuring prominent figures from Spanish culture: award-winning writer Ana Merino and filmmaker Rodrigo Cortés.
A literary encounter with Ana Merino
On 18 November at 12:00, Hoyo de Manzanares will host an intergenerational literary meeting with Ana Merino, a poet, novelist, playwright, and essayist, who is a prominent voice in contemporary Spanish literature. This event aims to bring together students from local educational centres and adults involved in reading clubs at the Municipal Library.
Participants will share their impressions and reflections on selected texts in a direct dialogue with the author, allowing for a rich exchange of experiences and interpretations. Attendees will engage with the chosen work, Planeta Lasvi, through prior reading, enabling them to actively participate by asking questions and sharing their insights. This initiative seeks to transform reading into a collective experience that transcends age and strengthens ties between the library, educational centres, and the community. The event is open to the public, with registration available via email at inscripciones.cultura@hoyodemanzanares.es.
Cinema and literature with Rodrigo Cortés
The second major event will occur on 20 November from 17:30 to 21:30, featuring the meeting Cinema and Literature with Rodrigo Cortés, an internationally recognised director, screenwriter, producer, and writer known for films such as Buried, Red Lights, Love in its Place, and Escape.
The event will begin with a screening of Escape (2024), serving as a starting point for a discussion on the connections between cinematic and literary language. Following the screening, a public forum will allow the filmmaker to explore the creative processes shared by both disciplines, including character development, story adaptation across different media, and the role of audiovisual storytelling in contemporary culture. Attendees will have ample opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversation with the author. This activity is supported by local cultural associations, including HoyoCine and La Maraña, as well as reading clubs and the IES Francisco Ayala, further enhancing local cultural participation. The event is free and open to all.
Engaging the youth through education
Hoyo de Manzanares's participation in the Festival eñe extends beyond public events. A significant part of the programme has been developed in collaboration with educational centres, bringing writing, reading, and cultural professions closer to children and young people through practical experiences.
The first step took place on 8 October as part of the Eñe Minúscula programme, featuring creative writing workshops led by poet and writer Raúl Vacas at the Virgen de la Encina public school. Nearly fifty fifth-grade students participated in two sessions where they explored literary creation, developed their imagination, and discovered the expressive possibilities of writing. As a result, the students prepared their own stories for the national competition “With the Eyes of…”, an initiative supported by the Multiópticas Foundation, encouraging young people to write with empathy and to explore literature's capacity to understand different perspectives.
The programme will continue on 12 November with “Journalists on Board”, a cultural journalism workshop led by journalist and writer Karina Sainz Borgo for first-year students at the IES de Hoyo de Manzanares. During this session, students will learn about journalistic work, how to prepare interviews, formulate questions, develop active listening skills, and construct informative narratives. The experience will extend on 13 November with a visit to the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, where participants will apply their learning by conducting real journalistic coverage and interviewing authors and guests of the Festival eñe. This approach ensures that young people are not merely spectators of cultural programming but take on active roles as creators and communicators, engaging with professions related to writing, journalism, and cultural management.
A commitment to participatory culture
By joining the Festival eñe, Hoyo de Manzanares reaffirms its commitment to a diverse, accessible cultural programme that resonates with the community's interests. Literature thus becomes the thread that connects generations, introduces young people to contemporary creation, and establishes bridges between artistic disciplines. This initiative aims to foster a culture of learning, coexistence, reflection, and engagement for the entire locality.
About Festival eñe
The Festival eñe 2026, organised by La Fábrica, celebrates its new edition under the thematic axis of poetry and features a programme that spans various cultural spaces and municipalities, aiming to bring literature and contemporary creation to new audiences.
