Agustín García Aguado wins the 3rd ENAIRE Foundation Short Story Competition

Agustín García Aguado won the ENAIRE Foundation's "I'll tell you in the air" 3rd Short Story Contest for his work entitled "Diario de Raymond de Laroche".

A total of 224 stories were submitted for this third edition of the competition; according to the rules, they had to be original stories, written in Spanish, between 2,400 and 2,500 words long, with the additional requirement that the story involve airports, flights, aeronautics, pioneers of the air, air transport or any other related matter.

The winning story honours Baroness Laroche, an aviation pioneer and woman ahead of her time

The ENAIRE Foundation's idea behind creating "I'll tell you in the air" had one clear goal: to help disseminate the world of aviation in order to reflect its influence and importance in society.

This contest awards 1,000 euros to the winning author and €700 to the runner-up. It should be noted that due to the immense quality of the stories received, an additional prize worth €500 was also awarded.

Winning story

Title: Diario de Raymond de Laroche

Author: Agustín García Aguado

The story pays tribute to Baroness Laroche, a pioneer of aviation and a woman who was ahead of her time. The jury noted the original idea behind this story, written in the first person in the form of a diary, and its rich and meticulous language, which describes the concerns of a woman in the early 19th century who yearns for freedom and transgresses the norms that were typical of her time.

The author, Agustín García Aguado, who entered the contest under the pseudonym Urbanelli, is a writer from Madrid with two published books - La ternura de las bestias and Caperucita feroz. He has also won several short story awards, most notably the “Premio de relato corto de Nava”; the “Pluma de Oro de relatos de Alcorcón”; and the “Tierra de Monegros”.

This story will be included in the Fall/Winter issue of ENARTE, the digital magazine published by the ENAIRE Foundation.

Runner-up

Title: The final countdown

Author: José Manuel García Durán

Also written in the first person and submitted under the pseudonym Jacinto de Vicente, this story presents an original narrative approach that keep the reader's interest by linking the plot and aviation from very different angles through the life of a woman whose existence is closely bound to the world of aviation.

The jury drew attention to the careful writing and rich language, with the good use of metaphors and good transitions between time periods.

José Manuel García, born in Riotinto (Huelva), has published two novels: Tierra de cobre y sangre, which tells the story of the famous mines in the Huelva town, and El cementerio de las tumbas vacías, on the infamous theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911. He has also won several short story awards, including the "Concurso de Relatos Cortos de la Semana Negra de Punta Umbría"; the "Antonio Reyes Huertas Award" and the "María Eloísa García Lorca" contest.

Special mention

Title: Samuel

Author: Guillermo Leguey Vitoriano

Guillermo Leguey Vitoriano is an architect by training and an air controller at ENAIRE. As an expert of the aeronautical sector, he submitted this story, under the alias of "Commander Romero", which describes a situation that aircraft crews have possibly faced more than once: a passenger's fear of flying, which was overcome thanks to the actions of the aircraft's commander.

The jury noted the quality of the writing, which makes for a pleasant read and manages to maintain the tension and the reader's interest. The unfolding of the story and its emotional ending make it stand out.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda that manages air navigation in Spain. It renders aerodrome control services at 21 airports, including the busiest in terms of air traffic, plus en-route and approach control, from five control centres: Barcelona, Madrid, Gran Canaria, Palma and Seville. In addition, ENAIRE provides communications, navigation and surveillance services to 45 air control towers.

In 2019, ENAIRE handled 2.1 million flights to and from four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa), transporting 320 million passengers.

ENAIRE is the fourth most important European air navigation service provider, and, in a clear commitment to the Single Sky initiative, belongs to international partnerships such as SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, A6 Alliance, iTEC, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).