Family and Friends Bid Farewell to Mario Vargas Llosa in an Intimate Ceremony

Without public tributes or official ceremonies. This was the final farewell to Mario Vargas Llosa, an intimate goodbye with his closest family. His children, his wife Patricia Llosa, and his grandchildren were the ones who received the mortal remains of the writer who passed away on Monday at the age of 89.

The coffin arrived shortly after 10:10 PM in Spain, 4:10 PM local time. The funeral vehicle transported the lifeless body of the Nobel Laureate from his home in Barranco to the crematorium in the Peruvian capital. Outside the Chorrillos Army Funeral and Cremation Center in Lima, Patricia awaited her three children. Hours later, Álvaro, Gonzalo, and Morgana emerged from the facilities.

The two eldest, Álvaro and Gonzalo, carried two urns, one larger than the other. Ahead of them, Morgana led the way with a sorrowful expression. "We want to mourn in private," Álvaro Vargas Llosa reiterated to the media, hours before the body was moved. "My father did not want posthumous ceremonies or tributes. We have decided to hold the wake at home, as a family, as he would have wanted," he added in a brief statement.

For now, there will be no official acts or public tributes, only the echoes of gratitude and messages on social media written from all corners of the globe.

According to sources close to the family, his ashes may be taken to Arequipa, his birthplace, in the coming days, although it has not been confirmed if they will be permanently deposited there.