Spain – In the city of the Turia, the 29 of January of 1867 was born the writer, politician and Spanish journalist, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Valenciano de pro, from his name, Vicente, as the patron of his city, to his stories written in Valencian. Also, the meticulous descriptions of the Valencian garden or the sea, make that his works look like canvases worthy of his great friend, and also paisano, the painter Joaquin Sorolla.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of his birth and for this reason, Correos dedicates a stamp full of symbolism and winks to his land. Unforgettable works such as Cañas and barro, or La barraca, also, Mare Nostrum or el papa del mar, show of the diversity of genres that it cultivated.

The work of Blasco Ibáñez could be cataloged within the literary naturalism but always with costumbristas and regionalist touches, sometimes of historical character and others with representations of his time.

Novels set in Valencia, such as Arroz y tartana, Flor de mayo or Entre naranjos; Also, works of social character where we can frame the cathedral, the cellar or the Horde; Novels with a psychological background, La maja desnuda or Sangre y arena; Others, American themes, World War I or adventure.This shows that he was a prolific writer, not to mention also his journalistic articles and his political activity. He was a restless man, who unlike many of his contemporaries, could live from his pen loosely, since many of his works can be considered authentic best-seller.

The stamp issued by Correos on the occasion of these 150 years of its birth, contains a very Valencian illustration, with a montage of the typical construction of this land, the tent, used by peasants and used to be located in the nearby vegetable gardens to the irrigated areas, and a pen, as a symbol of their literary production and whose morphology resembles the roofs of these houses. Also, on the label, you can see “oryzas”, the cereal that contains rice, an essential ingredient in Valencian cuisine, which has made this land of orange and chufas, sun and sea.

Issue Date: 16.03.2017
Process: Offset
Size: 40.9 x 28.8 mm
Values: 1€