Vilanova i la Geltrú hosted the eighteenth Ictineu Awards on 30 May 2026, with Daniel Genís taking the prize for Best Original Fantasy Novel in Catalan for El dimoni abans de nosaltres (The Devil Before Us).
The awards formed part of the eighth Catcon, the Catalan convention for fantastic genres, organised by the Catalan Society of Science Fiction and Fantasy (SCCFF). Around 300 people were registered to attend the event in Garraf.
Published by Males Herbes, Genís's novel won the main award in a year when the Ictineu Awards expanded to ten categories for the first time. New prizes were added for young adult literature, comics and essays, reflecting the wider range of work now being recognised in Catalan fantasy writing.
Other winners included Anna Starobinets for El gual de la guilla (The Fox's Ford), which won Best Fantasy Novel Translated into Catalan, and Laura Tomàs, who received two awards for Ada o l’origen de les flors (Ada or the Origin of Flowers) and Matermorfosis.
In the young adult categories, Ivan Ledesma won for Alexia King i les muntanyes congelades més enllà de l’armari, while T.J. Klune won for Més enllà de la mar més blava. Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä de la Vall del Vent was recognised in the comic category, Lluc Casals won for the essay Leviatans contra Franco, and Raül Grabau received the Best Fantastic Illustration award for the cover of Quan la Terra es pon.
For more Catalonia-wide culture coverage, see our news page. For background on the organiser, visit the Catalan Society of Science Fiction and Fantasy. You can also find more about the convention at Catcon.