The best Spanish novels of the 20th century
The top 3 according to 725 votes from people: The Family of Pascual Duarte · Nada · The Hive. (Updated Jan 7, 2026.)
Novels by Spanish authors published between 1900 and 2000 that appear on El Mundo's list of the 100 best 20th-century novels in Spanish (critics and 20,000 readers) and in later canons.
Automatically translated (original in Español). See the original
Top 20
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1
The Family of Pascual Duarte
Camilo José Cela, 1942. The memoirs of a man condemned to death; it launched 'tremendismo'.
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2
Nada
Carmen Laforet, 1945. Andrea arrives in post-war Barcelona; the first Nadal Prize, written at 23.
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3
The Hive
Camilo José Cela, 1951. More than 300 characters in 1943 Madrid; first published in Buenos Aires because of censorship.
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4
Time of Silence
Luis Martín-Santos, 1962. A young researcher in 1940s Madrid; it renewed the Spanish novel.
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5
Five Hours with Mario
Miguel Delibes, 1966. Carmen keeps vigil over her dead husband and reproaches him for a lifetime.
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6
The River
Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, 1955. A Sunday outing by the river; Nadal Prize.
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7
The Holy Innocents
Miguel Delibes, 1981. Azarías, his kite bird and the masters of an Extremaduran estate.
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8
The Truth About the Savolta Case
Eduardo Mendoza, 1975. Intrigue in Barcelona in 1917–1919; it opened the novel of the Transition.
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9
Requiem for a Spanish Peasant
Ramón J. Sender, 1953. A priest remembers young Paco, shot in the Civil War.
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10
The Tyrant
Ramón del Valle-Inclán, 1926. A grotesque portrait of a Latin American dictator; forerunner of the dictator novel.
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11
Mist
Miguel de Unamuno, 1914. The 'nivola' in which Augusto Pérez goes to argue with his own author.
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12
The Yellow Rain
Julio Llamazares, 1988. The last inhabitant of an abandoned village in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
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13
The City of Marvels
Eduardo Mendoza, 1986. Onofre Bouvila prospers in the Barcelona of two World's Fairs.
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14
The Path
Miguel Delibes, 1950. Daniel 'the Owl', on his last night before leaving his valley.
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15
Games of the Late Afternoon
Luis Landero, 1989. An office clerk invents a poet's life over the phone; National Prize for Fiction.
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16
The Tree of Knowledge
Pío Baroja, 1911. Andrés Hurtado, a medical student, and the pessimism of the Generation of '98.
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17
Beatus Ille
Antonio Muñoz Molina, 1986. A student investigates a poet killed in the war in the fictional town of Mágina.
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18
The Back Room
Carmen Martín Gaite, 1978. A writer and a night-time visitor; National Prize for Fiction.
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19
The Forging of a Rebel
Arturo Barea, 1941–1944. An autobiographical trilogy from Madrid to Morocco and the Civil War.
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20
A Heart So White
Javier Marías, 1992. An interpreter and a family secret, from a line in Macbeth.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 20… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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21
Marks of Identity
Juan Goytisolo, 1966. An exiled photographer returns to Barcelona; banned in Spain.
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22
Last afternoons with Teresa
Novel by Juan Marsé (1966) about Pijoaparte and a young woman from the Barcelona bourgeoisie; Brief Library Award.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (12)
Releí Nada este verano, Carmen Laforet sigue siendo enorme.
La lluvia amarilla de Llamazares es pura poesía.
Los santos inocentes me la mandaron en el instituto y me dejó tocada. La película también.
Cinco horas con Mario la vi en teatro con Lola Herrera, impresionante.
Corazón tan blanco es la mejor de Marías, ese arranque...
Tiempo de silencio cambió la novela española, Martín-Santos murió muy joven.
Nada de Carmen Laforet primera, ¡qué alegría! Premio Nadal con 23 años.
Esta lista parece el temario de bachillerato jajaja
Es que son las mejores, por algo están en el temario 😉
La familia de Pascual Duarte y La colmena, Cela tenía mal carácter pero escribía como nadie.
Niebla de Unamuno sigue siendo modernísima, el personaje que va a hablar con el autor.
Falta Últimas tardes con Teresa de Marsé.