Roger Bastida, with that nineteenth-century mustache he sports He himself has an air of another era, with the novel Passeig de Gràcia (Comanegra and Àfora Focus), winner of the 2026 Santa Eulàlia Prize, transports us to the most brilliant and turbulent period of contemporary Catalonia, the turn of the 20th century. While the book begins much earlier and ends with the mediocrity of the Franco regime, its depth and focus lie in the splendor of Modernism during the Noucentisme period, with the upper bourgeoisie, enriched in the Americas—yes, through slavery—as the protagonists of the industrial leap. The explosion of workers' demands and the rise of Catalan nationalism serve as a backdrop. The dominant perspective is that of those in power, and those who served them.

The history of Catalan literature is full of novels featuring Passeig de Gràcia, from Private life, by José María de Sagarra, until Broken mirror, of Mercedes Rodoreda, and The manufacturerby Dolors Monserdà. Until now, however, no fiction had taken place almost exclusively in one location. Roger Bastida (Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1990) has set himself the challenge in Passeig de Gràcia. Story of a familyFocusing on the destinies of three Catalan families—one noble, one bourgeois, and one working-class—over the last two centuries, the jury of the Santa Eulàlia Novel Prize has decided to award it. Organized by Comanegra and Àfora Focus Edicions for the past four years and endowed with 25,000 euros, the Santa Eulàlia Prize recognizes the best novel about Barcelona. In this case, the award will help to discover the young voice of Roger Bastida, who has already published three historical novels. The lizard's gaze (2017), The long festival (2020) and Under the shadow of the Washingtonia (2023), all three published by Columna. A graduate in art history, Bastida lives in Madrid, where he works as a historical consultant on series such as Temperance, Jan, Queen Victoria Eugenie and Sira He is also a professor of the history of clothing applied to costume design for film and television at ECAM (Madrid Film and Audiovisual School). "Even though he's such a young author, good literature is ageless," says Alba Cayón of Comanegra.