The Cultural Association Colectivo De Tebeos organized the twelfth edition of Almerilec, solidifying the event as a benchmark cultural gathering in Almería. The initiative was supported by the Almería City Council, through its Culture Department, the Amigos de la Alcazaba Association, Yeray Ediciones, Alhulia Editorial, and the bookstores Picasso Cómics, Millenium Comics, and Moviola Cómic.
Organizer Diego Cara highlighted that "With this twelfth edition, Almerilec has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting reading, cultural dissemination, and valuing literary and graphic heritage as essential tools for educational and social development.” For his part, the delegate councilor for Culture, Diego Cruz, recalled that the event "combines educational activities, literary presentations, author encounters, workshops, discussions, and exhibitions. Initiatives that enrich the programming of our library network during the month of June.”
The campaign began on Friday with a conference by Diego Cara on the 70-year history of El Capitán Trueno, detailing its origins and creators. Contemporary Almerian literature was presented with the novel Una historia de luz by writer Francisco Cañabate, introduced by poet Ramón Crespo.
The cartoonist Paco Asenjo, the edition's honoree, presented his graphic novel Frente de Leningrado, a work about World War II. In a subsequent talk with Alejandro Ortega, Jesús López Cabrera, and Antonio J. García Ché, he advocated for comics as a tool for historical dissemination and previewed his next project, Krasni-Bor.
On Saturday, the José Juan Ruiz Iborra's Comic Creation Workshop, focused on fostering artistic vocations, was discussed. The importance of pocket collections like Colección Austral and El Barco de Vapor in shaping readers was reviewed. Animation specialist Juan José Zanoletty analyzed the evolution of classic animation and the influence of video clubs.
The campaign concluded with the presentation of issue number 27 of the magazine Mundos de Papel, dedicated to Paco Asenjo and cartoonist Jesús Redondo. Paco Asenjo received the Trueno de Honor award for his contribution to Spanish comics.
Exhibitions related to Almerilec 2026 will remain open in the Guillermo Langle Hall of the Central Library José María Artero until July 25. These include a retrospective of Paco Asenjo, an exhibition on historical comics in reading dissemination, a commemorative display for the 70th anniversary of El Capitán Trueno, and a selection of bibliographic collections that have formed part of the education of several generations of readers.
