Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel prize winner with ties to Marbella

The Peruvian writer spent three weeks every summer at the town's Clínica Buchinger and was often seen walking along the promenade

Jennie Rhodes

Marbella

Thursday, 17 April 2025, 12:34 | Updated 16:50h.

Peruvian writer and Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, who died on Sunday, had close ties with Malaga and in particular Marbella.

In fact he has a primary school and a street named after him and was made an 'adopted son' of the Costa del Sol town in 2014. During his acceptance speech at the time, Vargas Llosa said, "I came here for the first time many years ago without knowing, of course, that from then on I would establish such a deep and permanent link between my life and this town. From then until now I have been a visitor every summer."

Vargas Llosa was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Malaga (UMA) in 2007 in recognition of his long and extensive career as a writer. He founded the city's Escribidores festival in 2022 and said at the time, "Malaga has become a cultural centre of the first order."

Born on 28 March 1936 in Arequipa, Peru, Mario Vargas Llosa was a regular visitor to Marbella and in particular the Clínica Buchinger, where he would spend three weeks each summer, enjoying the clinic's different treatments.

The writer liked to look after his health and would often be spotted walking along the town's promenade. He was no stranger to the more glamorous side of Marbella and would regularly attend parties and charity events when he was in town.

He first started visiting Marbella with his wife, Patricia Llosa Urquidi, and then later with his partner Isabel Preysler.

As well as an illustrious career in writing and journalism, which saw him travel extensively and included a 16-year period living in Paris, Barcelona and Madrid, he ran for president of Peru in the late 1980s. However, he was eventually defeated by Alberto Fujimori.

Mario Vargas Llosa died peacefully and surrounded by family in Lima, aged 89, according to messages posted by his children on social media.

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