MEXICO CITY – Spanish author Juan Goytisolo was named on Monday as the recipient of the 2012 Formentor Prize for literature.

The 81-year-old novelist and essayist is being recognized for his body of work, jury president and 2011 Formentor winner Carlos Fuentes told a press conference in Mexico City.

Goytisolo, a Barcelona native who has long lived in Morocco, focuses on the Mediterranean world conceived of as the shared space of Jews, Muslims and Christians.

The jury expressed “admiration for the strength, example and independent judgment of a writer whose literary work belongs to the great narrative tradition of the Spanish language.”

Goytisolo’s books include “Señas de Identidad” (Marks of Identity), “Juan sin Tierra” (Juan the Landless), “Makbara” (Masks) and “Paisajes para Despues de la Batalla” (Landscapes After the Battle).

The Formentor Prize, which carries a cash award of 50,000 euros ($65,000), has been won by Jorge Luis Borges, Samuel Beckett, Saul Bellow, Jorge Semprum and Witold Gombrowicz, among others.

Created by publisher Seix Barral in 1961, the awarding of the Formentor was interrupted in 1967 and resumed only last year. The prize takes its name from a town on the Spanish island of Mallorca that was famous for its literary gatherings. EFE