14/09/2006 Last 14th September, the jury of the II Eurostars Hotels Prize for Travel Narrative – comprising the writersAna María Moix and Eduardo Mendicutti, Ana Sanjurjo (Hotusa Hotels Director), Adolfo Sotelo Vázquez (Head of the Department of Spanish Language of Barcelona University) and Oriol Castanys (CEO of RBA Libros S.A.)-

– and acting as jury secretary, Ernest Trias, Communication Director of Barcelona University, revealed the name of the winning piece of work of this second edition. The award goes to CRÓNICAS DE IDA Y VUELTA (CHRONICLES OF RETURN JOURNEYS), by Héctor Oliva Camps, presented under the pseudonym Máncora.

Amancio López, the HotusaGroup Chairman, handed the monetary prize of 18,000 euros to the author of the prize-winning book that will be distributed free of charge throughout all the rooms belonging to the 34 hotels of the Eurostars chain in Europe and Latin America. In addition, the novel will be published by RBA Libros for general sale in bookshops.

The winning author of the II Eurostars Hotels Prize for Travel Narrative – a Hotusa Group initiative that enjoys the collaboration of the publishing company RBA Libros and the University of Barcelona – thanked the recognition expressed by the various members of the jury, as well as the three sponsoring entities. As Héctor Oliva explained, “Crónicas de Ida y Vuelta” is a compendium of three tales with different characters that share a sole objective: the search for progression and the longing for adventure”. The author revealed that the three stories presented form part of a larger set that include three more characters.

Up to the 31 May last, the deadline for the entry of originals, a total of 54 manuscripts were presented for the contest, sent from all corners of Spanish territory, as well as other countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Germany, Greece, Mexico and the U.S.A. Amongst them all, the jury selected a total of six finalists.