Science fiction in Spanish-language literature has its roots in authors such as Antonio de Guevara with ''The Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius'' (1527), Miguel de Cervantes in ''
Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...
'', Anastasio Pantaleón de Ribera's ''Vejamen de la luna'' (Satirical tract on the Moon, 1626/1634), Luis Vélez de Guevara's ''El Diablo Cojuelo'' (The Limping Devil, 1641) and Antonio Enríquez Gómez's ''La torre de Babilonia'' (The Tower of Babylon).
In the 20th century, magazines such as ''Nueva Dimensión'' and ''Narraciones Terroríficas'' (the Spanish-language version of ''
Weird Tales
''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...
'') popularized science fiction among Spanish speakers worldwide.
History
Spanish science fiction starts mid 19th century; depending on how it is defined, ''Lunigrafía'' (1855) from M. Krotse or ''Una temporada en el más bello de los planetas'' from Tirso Aguimana de Veca — a trip to Saturn published in 1870-1871, but written in the 1840s — is the first science fiction novel. As such, science fiction was very popular in the second half of the 19th century, but mainly produced alternate history and post-apocalyptic futures, written by some of the most important authors of the generations of '98 and '14. The influence of Verne also produced some singular works, like
Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau
Enrique Lucio Eugenio Gaspar y Rimbau (2 March 1842 in Madrid – 7 September 1902 in Oloron) was a Spanish diplomat and writer, who wrote many plays ('' zarzuelas''), and one of the first novels involving time travel with a time machine, ...
's '' El anacronópete'' (1887), a
story about time travel that predates the publication of ''
The Chronic Argonauts
"The Chronic Argonauts" is an 1888 short story by the British science-fiction writer H. G. Wells. It features an inventor who builds a time machine and travels in time using it, and it pre-dates Wells's best-selling 1895 time travel novel ''The ...
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, and the first in Spain about "artificial people". But the most prolific were ''Coronel Ignotus'', and ''Coronel Sirius'', who published their adventures in the magazine ''Biblioteca Novelesco-Científica''. The 19th century literature up to the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
saw no less than four fictional trips to the Moon, one to Venus, five to Mars, one to Jupiter, and one to Saturn.
The
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
devastated this rich literary landscape. With few exceptions, only the arrival of
pulp science fiction
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
in the 1950s would reintroduce the genre in Spanish literature. The space opera series La Saga de los Aznar (1953-1958 and 1973-1978) by Pascual Enguídanos won the Hugo Award in 1978. Also in the 1950s started the
radio serial
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
for children Diego Valor; inspired by Dan Dare, the serial produced 1200 episodes of 15 min., and spun a comic (1954-1964), three theater plays (1956-1959) and the first Spanish Science Fiction TV series (1958), that has been lost.
Modern, prospective, self-aware science fiction crystallized in the 1970s around the magazine '' Nueva Dimensión'' (1968-1983), and its editor Domingo Santos, one of the most important Spanish Science Fiction authors of the time. Other important authors of the 70s and 80s are
Manuel de Pedrolo
Manuel de Pedrolo i Molina (; 1918 – 1990) was a spanish author of novels, short stories, poetry and plays. He's mostly known for his sci-fi novel ''Mecanoscrit del segon origen'' ('' Typescript of the Second Origin'').
Mini-biography
Manuel ...
(''Mecanoscrit del segon origen'', 1974), Carlos Saiz Cidoncha (''La caída del Imperio galáctico'', 1978),
Rafael Marín
Rafael Marín Trechera (Cádiz, Spain, 1959) is a Spanish novelist, translator, comic book writer and co-plotter.
He is best known in the United States for his work with artist Carlos Pacheco on the ''Fantastic Four'' Vol.3 title in 2000 and 2001, ...
(''Lágrimas de luz'', 1984), and Juan Miguel Aguilera (the Akasa-Puspa saga, 1988-2005). In the 1990s the genre exploded with the creation many small dedicated fanzines, important Science Fiction prizes, and the convention HispaCon;
Elia Barceló
Elia Barceló or Elia Eisterer-Barceló (born 29 January 1957) is a Spanish academic and author who lives in Austria.
Life
Barceló was born in Elda in 1957. She became an academic and earned her doctorate in Innsbruck, Austria in 1995. She rem ...
(''El mundo de Yarek'', 1992), became the most prolific, and possibly the best Science Fiction author from Spain. Other recent authors are Eduardo Vaquerizo (''Danza de tinieblas'', 2005), Félix J. Palma (The Victorian trilogy, 2008-2014), and Carlos Sisí (''Panteón'', 2013).
Spain has been continuously producing Science Fiction films since the 1960s, at a rate of 5 to 10 per decade. The 1970s was specially prolific; the director, and screenwriter
Juan Piquer Simón
Juan Piquer Simón (16 February, 1935 – 8 January, 2011) was a Spanish film director best known for directing two cult classic horror exploitation films, '' Pieces'' (1982) and '' Slugs: The Movie'' (1988).
Career
He also directed two Jule ...
is the most important figure of '' fantaterror'', producing a few low budget Science Fiction films. '' La cabina'' (1972) is the most awarded Spanish TV production in history. In the 90s '' Acción mutante'' (1992) by
Álex de la Iglesia
Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza (born 4 December 1965) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, producer and former comic book artist.
De la Iglesia's films combine grotesque and very dark elements such as death and murder: most of his ...
, and ''
Abre los ojos
''Open Your Eyes'' ( es, Abre los ojos, links=no) is a 1997 Spanish film co-written, co-scored and directed by Alejandro Amenábar and co-written by Mateo Gil. It stars Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martínez and Najwa Nim ...
'' (1997) by
Alejandro Amenábar
Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born March 31, 1972) is a Spanish-Chilean film director, screenwriter and composer. He has won nine Goyas—including a Goya Award for Best Director for his 2001 film '' The Others''— two European Film A ...
, represent a watershed in Spanish Science Fiction filming, with a quality that would not be reached again until '' Los cronocrímenes'' (2007) by
Nacho Vigalondo
Ignacio Vigalondo Palacios (born 6 April 1977), better known as Nacho Vigalondo, is a Spanish filmmaker.
Career
Vigalondo's first film was the 2003 Spanish-language short film '' 7:35 in the Morning'', about a suicide bomber who terrorizes a ca ...
. The most important Science Fiction TV series produced in Spain is ''
El ministerio del tiempo
''El ministerio del tiempo'' (English title: ''The Ministry of Time'') is a Spanish fantasy television series created by Javier and Pablo Olivares and produced by Onza Partners and Cliffhanger for Televisión Española (TVE). It premiered on 24 ...
Chicho Ibáñez Serrador Chicho is a Spanish male nickname. It can be a pet name for many different Spanish names, including Francisco and Narciso.
Notable people known by this nickname include:
* Cándido Sibilio
* Chicho Frumboli, also known as Mariano Frúmboli, Argenti ...
, and '' Plutón BRB Nero'' (2008-2009), should also be mentioned.
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...
Science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...