La ciudad de las luces muertas
» Nadal Prize 2026
A dazzling story by an author as innovative as he is singular, reminding us that light returns when someone dares to imagine it.
The light disappears in Barcelona for an entire day—both sunlight and artificial light. All that survives is a subtle clarity whose origin no one can explain, and the glow of fire. The Barcelonas that have existed converge and overlap in the same place: vanished buildings reappear, and others from the future emerge. In this territory where times and gazes that were never meant to meet coexist, the city is overwhelmed by all its eras at once.
The event will cause a handful of writers and artists to return to life and cross paths in improbable encounters. Picasso will make Simone Weil weep, and Cortázar will portray Laforet; Miró will varnish passersby; Bolaño will anticipate his own death, García Márquez will flee in a boat, and George Orwell will protect Montserrat Caballé, Núria Espert, and Jordi Savall from the projectiles of war. Amid this rupture of time, a photographer capable of revealing with his camera what has not yet occurred—and many other characters—will join their arts in an attempt to understand what has happened and how to recover the lost light.
In his new novel, David Uclés constructs a narrative in which word, painting, music, and performance act as the deep conscience of society; they are what can illuminate it when everything seems lost.
PRESS
«Few authors can successfully bring together such a diverse cast of characters into a mosaic that comes close to being the great Barcelona novel.» Xavi Ayén, La Vanguardia
«David Uclés has brilliantly revived magical realism —a genre rarely used to address historical themes— sparking a debate on writing, ideology, and history.» Marga Durá, La Vanguardia
«The Peninsula is David Uclés’ Sistine Chapel, while Dead Light City is his Guernica. (…) In his new novel, Uclés comes across as more roguish, down-to-earth, and also cruel: pure Spanish tragicomedy.» Begoña Alonso, Elle
«It is not only a tribute to Barcelona, but to the freedom of the imagination. A chaotic and brilliant encounter. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.» Gioconda Belli, multi-awarded author of The Inhabited Woman
«I absolutely loved it. A parade of characters I found deeply endearing, many of them now gone.» Eduardo Mendoza, multiawarded author of The City of Wonders
