A tribute to the "Generation of '50," to which both authors belonged.

Institutional collaboration has made it possible to display nearly 200 works, including a recently discovered unpublished novel by Ignacio Aldecoa.

The National Library of Spain (BNE), in collaboration with AC/E, hosts two exhibitions from December 18, 2025, to June 14, 2026, to celebrate the birth centennials of two key figures in 20th-century Spanish literature: Carmen Martín Gaite and Ignacio Aldecoa.

Through both shows—held in the Recoletos and Jorge Juan rooms—visitors can explore the life, work, and legacy of these two singular authors, as well as the historical, social, and cultural context of their literary activity. Special attention is given to the importance of the Generation of '50, with the space connecting both rooms dedicated specifically to this group.

Carmen Martín Gaite: The Paradigm of a Woman of Letters

This exhibition is organized by the National Library of Spain, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), the Junta de Castilla y León, the University of Salamanca, and the Martín Gaite Foundation, with the collaboration of the Women's Institute, the ACS Foundation, and the Friends of the BNE Foundation (FABNE). It goes beyond Carmen Martín Gaite’s facet as a writer to showcase the breadth of her intellectual interests and how they unfolded in a multitude of directions.

Curated by José Teruel—Honorary Professor of Spanish Literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and director of the seven-volume annotated edition of the author’s Complete Works (2008–2019)—the show reflects the milestones of the life and intellectual heritage of one of Spain's most culturally vibrant writers, one hundred years after her birth and twenty-five years after her death.

Family photographs—featuring a nearly always smiling "Carmiña," often alongside Ignacio Aldecoa and other writers of the Generation of '50—school notebooks with her neat, slanted calligraphy, portraits, personal objects, books from her library, letters, diaries, and manuscripts (some featuring drawings, such as those for Entre visillos and El cuarto de atrás) are on display. Also featured are her famous "notebooks for everything" (cuadernos de todo)—as her daughter Marta called them—and her celebrated collages. Together, these items offer a glimpse into the deeply personal universe of the Salamanca-born writer, complementing a journey through various editions of her works, articles, translations, and audiovisual material including interviews, lectures, and poetry readings.

A chronological itinerary guides the visitor through the environments and interpersonal relationships that most influenced her development as a woman and a writer:

Youth in Salamanca: Marked by the Civil War, her early writings, and her time at the University of Salamanca, where she met Ignacio Aldecoa.

Arrival in Madrid (1948): Her decisive reunion with Aldecoa, which introduced her to the core of the Generation of '50: Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio (whom she married in 1953), Jesús Fernández Santos, Josefina Rodríguez, and others.

Intellectual Trajectory: Her work as a "woman of letters" spanned novels, essays, poetry, theater, literary criticism, and translation. In the 1970s, she embraced solitude as a synonym for freedom and a creative engine.

Recognition: She was the first woman to win the National Literature Prize for El cuarto de atrás (1978), later receiving the Prince of Asturias Award (1988) and becoming a beloved "queen of letters" in the 1990s.

Ignacio Aldecoa: The Craft of Writing

Organized by the National Library of Spain, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), and the Provincial Council of Álava, with the collaboration of the ACS Foundation and the Friends of the BNE Foundation (FABNE), this exhibition invites us to discover the biographical and professional journey of Ignacio Aldecoa (Vitoria, 1925 – Madrid, 1969). The show explores his links to the world of cinema, his passion for travel and adventure, and his relentless search for a personal paradise.

Curated by José Ramón González, Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Valladolid, the exhibition vindicates this essential author who gave himself unreservedly to the "craft of writing." His demanding, rigorous, and honest literature continues to resonate today as a testimonial of Spain’s recent history.

Aldecoa co-directed Revista Española, a publication crucial for the "Madrid group" of the Generation of '50 and the renewal of Spanish literature during that decade. While primarily known for his short stories, Aldecoa wrote six novels. Remarkably, two of them—Ciudad de tarde (1952) and El Gran Mercado (1953), which were never published—were discovered just this year in the Censorship Section of the General Administration Archive during the research for this exhibition.