The session that raises the question
Manuel Valls appears in the programme for Tuesday 29 September, 20:15 to 21:15, Plaza de España. The item is called "El Mario Vargas Llosa político" — Vargas Llosa as a political figure; the writer stood in Peru's 1990 presidential election. Alongside Valls sits Fernando Fernández Martín, with J.J. Armas Marcelo moderating. The session carries the streaming note.
Two caveats come with it: the programme page is marked provisional, and the separate participants page, which lists 34 names, does not include Valls — nor Gerald Martin. That points to pages maintained unevenly, not to a cancellation. Changes do remain possible: Marco Martos, named by elDiario.es on 7 September for the Vallejo recital, is absent from the programme.
Gerald Martin and a book from August
The closing item comes on Saturday 3 October, 20:15 to 21:15, Plaza de España: "Clausura. Gerald Martin: vida de Mario Vargas Llosa", with Agustín Prado Alvarado of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. The occasion is recent: Martin's biography Mario Vargas Llosa: A Life was published by Bloomsbury in August 2026 and runs to more than 800 pages; his García Márquez biography appeared in 2008. He signs books on 3 October at 13:15 on the Plaza — that slot is not streamed.
Blanca Varela: a hundred years
The real centre of the programme is none of the famous guests, but a poet most readers in Europe have never heard of. Blanca Varela was born in Lima in 1926 and died there in 2009 — 2026 is her centenary, and for that reason, the festival writes, "no podía faltar un homenaje muy especial hacia ella".
Varela is counted among the most important voices in twentieth-century poetry in Spanish. According to the Premio Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana, which she received in 2007, her books run from Ese puerto existe (1959) to Concierto animal (1999); the same source also names the Premio Octavio Paz and the Premio Federico García Lorca. Two sessions are devoted to her: the recital "Homenaje a Blanca Varela" on Monday 28 September at 20:15 with Irma Correa, Elsa López and Cary Rosa Varona on cello, and on Friday 2 October at 17:45 the conversation "Sobre el Inca Garcilaso y Blanca Varela".
Three sessions, if you cannot stay six days
The three strongest items fall in the same slot, all on the Plaza de España, all streamed: Monday 28 September, 20:15, the Varela recital; Tuesday 29 September, 20:15, "El Mario Vargas Llosa político" with Manuel Valls; Saturday 3 October, 20:15, the closing session with Gerald Martin. The festival opens on Monday at 19:00 with the Peruvian delegation. For families: on Tuesday, two children's readings at the Casa de la Cultura for ages seven to nine, Katya Adaui at 11:00 and Patricia del Río Labarthe at 12:00, neither of them streamed.
What goes online — and what does not
The rule is simpler than the programme makes it look: what happens on the Plaza de España is broadcast — with one exception, the six signing slots. That adds up to 23 of the 39 items, including every evening round at 17:45, 19:00 and 20:15. Nothing goes out from the Casa de la Cultura, from the three schools or from the radio studios. On the channels the festival's own statements differ: the note under each item lists the website and two Facebook pages, the FAQ also lists X. Whether recordings stay available afterwards is not stated.
Why Los Llanos — and how to get there
The festival explains the location historically: in the sixteenth century La Palma was granted the privilege of trading with the Americas — one of three ports with that right, alongside Antwerp and Seville. The eighth edition follows a run that, per elDiario.es, has taken place every year since 2018, "salvo el año de la erupción volcánica": it did not run in 2021. The festival raises the volcano itself, billing the island as "desde la isla del último volcán para el mundo".
The main venues are next to one another: the Canary register of cultural spaces lists the Casa de la Cultura at "Plaza España s/n, 38760" — the same square that holds the stage and, according to the festival, three book stalls. From the airport at Villa de Mazo (SPC) the FAQ names bus line L8 to Santa Cruz de La Palma and a change there to the L1; by car the LP-5, LP-3 and LP-2, with 30 kilometres from Santa Cruz. The festival publishes no journey time. By sea, Fred. Olsen Express states a crossing of about two and a half hours from Los Cristianos to Santa Cruz de La Palma; the L1 stops outside the port.