Editing Miguel Delibes (section)

=== Literary halt and final years ===
[[File:Placa a Miguel Delibes en la Calle Santiago de Valladolid.jpg|thumb|200px| Plaque of Miguel Delibes installed by the city of Valladolid as a tribute to his novel ''[[The Heretic: A Novel of the Inquisition|The Heretic]]''.]] 
His last major work, ''[[The Heretic: A Novel of the Inquisition|El hereje]]'' (The Heretic),<ref>''The heretic'', Miguel Delibes, translated from the Spanish by Alfred MacAdam, The Overlook Press, 2006</ref> a tribute to Valladolid, was published in 1998 and was awarded the [[National Literature Prize for Narrative]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/DELIBES/_MIGUEL_/ESCRITOR/PREMIO_NACIONAL_DE_NARRATIVA/Miguel/Delibes/obtiene/Premio/Nacional/Narrativa/libro/hereje/elpepicul/19991020elpepicul_2/Tes | title = Miguel Delibes obtiene el Premio Nacional de Narrativa con su libro 'El hereje' |trans-title=Delibes Miguel wins National Prize for Fiction with his book 'The heretic' | newspaper = [[El País]] | date = October 20, 1999 | access-date = October 22, 2009}}</ref> When receiving the award, the author stated that at 79 years of age he "had hung up his writing tackle." At the beginning of the millennium, the Miguel Delibes Chair was founded. The chair has its seat at the universities of [[City University of New York|New York]] and [[University of Valladolid|Valladolid]], and has as its objectives to promote the study of contemporary Spanish literature, make this literature known in the United States and disseminate it through new technologies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catedramdelibes.es/catedra.html |title=La Cátedra Miguel Delibes |author=Cátedra Miguel Delibes |date=22 October 2009 |access-date=22 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720134153/http://www.catedramdelibes.es/catedra.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Following the publication of ''The Heretic'' his writing career came virtually to a halt, mainly because of the colon cancer that affected the writer during the final phase of writing his last great novel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lavozdigital.es/cadiz/20071028/cultura/elogio-sencillez-20071028.html |title =Elogio de la sencillez |author=La Voz de Cádiz |author-link=La Voz de Cádiz | date =22 October 2009}}</ref> He was largely disabled and fell victim to an ever-greater apathy. His last book, ''La tierra herida'' (The wounded earth) published in 2005, takes the form of a dialogue between him and his eldest son, Miguel Delibes, former head of [[Doñana National Park]]. The book is a moving account of climate change.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/mar/14/miguel-delibes-obituary/ |title =Miguel Delibes obituary |first=Michael |last=Eaude |date =14 March 2010 |location=London |work=The Guardian}}</ref> In 2007 he received the Quijote Prize for Spanish Literature,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acescritores.com/premios-quijote.php?id=54 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210141227/http://www.acescritores.com/premios-quijote.php?id=54 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 December 2008 |title=Miguel Delibes, Premio Quijote de las Letras Españolas |date=15 December 2007 |author=Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España |access-date=22 October 2009 }}</ref> although in later years his literary production was practically nil, with just a few titles, such as ''De Valladolid ''(From Valladolid). Since he was disabled, [[Juan Carlos I]] and [[Sofia of Greece]], the king and queen of Spain, personally visited the writer at his home in Valladolid after he was awarded the Vocento Prize for Human Values.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://especiales.lasprovincias.es/anuario/protagonistas/2006/delibes-premio |author=Las Provincias |author-link=Las Provincias |title=Miguel Delibes |date=17 October 2006 |access-date=22 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019110809/http://especiales.lasprovincias.es/anuario/protagonistas/2006/delibes-premio |archive-date=19 October 2009 }}</ref> He was recognized by his city with the creation of the Route of the Heretic based on his novel and the construction of the ''Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes'', which is both a [[music school|conservatory]] and [[auditorium]] as well as a [[convention center]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nortecastilla.es/prensa/20070411/portada/auditorio-miguel-delibes-listo_20070411.html |title =El Auditorio Miguel Delibes, listo para la inauguración de hoy |author=El Norte de Castilla |author-link=El Norte de Castilla |date = March 2007 | access-date = 22 October 2009}}</ref>

The president of the autonomous community of [[Castile and León]] gave him in November 2009 the Gold Medal of Castile and León in recognition of "his defense of [[Spanish language|Castilian]]" and described the author as a "master storyteller".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europapress.es/cultura/cine-00128/noticia-miguel-delibes-recibe-medalla-oro-castilla-leon-20091116192226.html |title =Miguel Delibes recibe la Medalla de Oro de Castilla y León |publisher=[[Europa Press (news agency)|Europa Press]] |date =16 November 2009 |access-date =13 March 2010}}</ref>
 
Similarly, the [[Junta of Castile and León]], as well as numerous Spanish and international cultural and intellectual institutions proposed him repeatedly as a candidate for the [[Nobel Prize]], the last time by the Society of Authors and Publishers in 2010 along with [[Ernesto Cardenal]] and [[Ernesto Sabato]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nortecastilla.es/20100105/mas-actualidad/cultura/sgae-propone-nuevo-miguel-201001051352.html |title =La SGAE propone de nuevo a Miguel Delibes para el Nobel  |author=nortecastilla.es |date =5 January 2010}}</ref>