On Saturday, May 2, the Galician writer Amara Castro Cid will be signing copies of her latest novel, Hasta siempre, Malena Giestal, at El Corte Inglés Santiago de Compostela, in a very special event that coincides with the first day of the city’s Book Fair.

The signing will take place in the bookstore on the ground floor, from 12:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00, offering readers and visitors a unique opportunity to kick off the Book Fair with a standout literary encounter.

A doubly awarded novel

Hasta siempre, Malena Giestal has been recognized with the Letrame Award for Best Romantic Novel 2026 and the Letrame Talent Award 2026. In this work, Amara Castro Cid takes us to her hometown of Vigo to explore themes such as identity, personal reconstruction, loss and grief, family relationships, love and heartbreak, entrepreneurship, and personal growth.

The protagonist, Malena Giestal, decides to break away from family expectations and abandon civil service exams to start a handbag-making business. Along the way, she discovers that even in the most difficult moments, an opportunity to start over can emerge.

With agile, intimate, and immersive prose, the author builds a story as unsettling as it is hopeful, set in contemporary Vigo.

About the author

Amara Castro Cid (Vigo, 1975) holds a degree in Journalism from the Pontifical University of Salamanca and a master’s degree in Applied Languages from the University of Évora. Her professional career combines teaching, translation, and journalism.

In the literary field, she trained at Fuentetaja and the Escuela de Escritores, and was a student in Carlos Segovia’s narrative workshop. She is the author of the novels Con esto y un bizcocho (Círculo Rojo Award 2018), El tiempo suficiente (Ediciones Maeva, 2020), and Aquello que guardamos (Letrame Award 2024). Hasta siempre, Malena Giestal is her fourth novel.

An unmissable event for literature lovers at the start of the Santiago de Compostela Book Fair. Come by and take home your signed copy.