The members of the Jury for the 1986 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters, Carlos Luis Álvarez, Luis Maria Ansón, Jaime Campmany, Álvaro Galmés, Pablo García Baena, Fernando Lázaro Carreter, José María Martínez Cachero, Fernando Onega, and Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, gathered in Oviedo on the 22nd and 23rd of May, 1986 under the presidency of Joaquín Calvo Sotelo and with Emilio Alarcos Llorach acting as secretary, have decided by majority to grant this award to Mario Vargas Llosa and Rafael Lapesa Melgar. In the Case of Mr Vargas Llosa the Jury has valued his extraordinary gifts as a story-teller, the wealth and variety of his work, filled with the spirit of creative freedom and his mastery of the language. In granting the award to Mr Lapesa the Jury recognises his rigorous, constant and profound work in clarifying the history of the Spanish language, as well as his fruitful teaching work in Spain and America.