Contest rules

With the fundamental premise of the Foundation’s mission that words serve as a tool for coexistence among cultures, religions, and different ideologies the VIII Edition of the International Micro-Story Contest is hereby announced.

 

Contest Rules

 

1. The call for entries for the VIII Edition of the International Micro-Story Contest, organized by the César Egido Serrano Foundation, domiciled in Madrid, Calle Maldonado, number 65, Escalera B, 1 Izquierdo, with CIF number G-85684769, will be open for the reception of stories on October 2, 2025
2. Participation is open to all writers from any country in the world who are over 18 years of age. Writers aged 16 may also participate, provided they submit a duly notarized authorization from their parents and/or legal guardians.
3. Participation is restricted to employees and board members of the César Egido Serrano Foundation.
4. Entries, on a free subject matter, must be written in any of the following languages: Spanish, English, Arabic, or Hebrew. A maximum of three texts per author will be accepted, regardless of the languages chosen.
5. A grand prize of € 20,000 will be awarded to the best story, in any of the contest languages.
6. Additionally, three runner-up prizes of € 2,000 each will be awarded to the best stories in each of the other languages admitted to the contest, provided they are not the grand prize winner.
7. Cash prizes are considered gross amounts and will be deposited into the personal bank account indicated by the respective winners, once the taxes in force at the time of assignment and delivery have been settled. Winners must provide, upon notification of their award, a valid tax residency certificate, their bank account details, and proof of ownership of the account.
8. Attendance at the award ceremony is an essential condition, except in cases of duly justified force majeure. In the event of unjustified absence, the jury reserves the right to reassign the prize to the next best-ranked finalist in that category. The ceremony is usually held publicly, with the presence of authorities, social media, news, and guests of the Foundation. Therefore, attending winners are required to represent, through their behavior, the values and objectives that justify and give meaning to our Foundation: dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence as essential bonds of humanity 
9. Stories may not exceed 100 words (counted in Spanish; differences in other languages’ syntax will not alter this limit). Submissions must be made exclusively by completing the form available on the Foundation’s website: https://www.fundacioncesaregidoserrano.com.
10. Submitted microstories must be unpublished, original, and the work of the author. Texts generated wholly or partially using artificial intelligence tools will not be accepted. If this situation is detected, the story will be automatically disqualified.
    Any micro-story that does not comply with these conditions will be disqualified. In the event Any microstory that does not meet these conditions will be disqualified. If it is later found that an awarded microstory was not unpublished, the prize recipient must fully return the amount of the prize received. 
11. The submission period will begin on October 2, 2025, and end at 23:59 (Spanish mainland time) on January 31, 2026. This period may be extended if required by the development of the contest or for technical reasons.
12. From the submission deadline and for a maximum period of 60 days, all participants who so wish may access and vote on the submitted micro-stories, selecting the language in which they wish to do so, and assigning an anonymous score between 1 and 10 points. The system will randomly present between a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 50 stories for evaluation. The Foundation reserves the right to modify the voting system or timeframe to ensure its proper operation. The voting system will be made available to anyone who wishes to participate, via the Foundation’s official website.
    To ensure impartiality and transparency, the system will guarantee that all micro-stories are subjected to the same number of evaluations. Likewise, no participant may vote for or promote their own submission.
    12. Cont) In a second stage of evaluation, the 50 micro-stories with the highest average weighted score in each language will be reviewed by a professional jury composed of renowned writers and writing professors, whose experience and trajectory guarantee the quality of the outcome. This jury will determine the grand prize and the runner-up prizes. In the event of a tie, the president of the jury, appointed by the Foundation, will cast the deciding vote. The list of finalist titles and the grand prize winner will be published on the César Egido Serrano Foundation website.
    The César Egido Serrano Foundation reserves the right to publish the stories received, in any digital or print media deemed appropriate, always mentioning their authorship and without any financial or material compensation for their use or publication. The Foundation will at all times respect the authors’ rights for future dissemination.
13. The jury’s decision is final. Stories that fail to comply with any of the articles described herein will not be admitted to the contest. These rules are deposited before a notary. The Foundation also reserves the right to modify the evaluation method of the entries in the first stage if required for technical reasons or if the number of votes does not ensure sufficient diversity. Should this occur, participants will be duly informed.
14. Participation in this contest implies full acceptance of its rules, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, of April 27 (GDPR), and Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5 (LOPDGDD). Contestants consent to their data being processed under the responsibility of the CÉSAR EGIDO SERRANO FOUNDATION for the purposes of participating in the International Micro-Story Contest and for receiving information about the Foundation’s activities. Data will be retained indefinitely unless either party objects or legal requirements dictate otherwise. In the event of being a winner or finalist, the participant authorizes the publication of their name and image in the Foundation’s communication channels and in external media. Participants are hereby informed that they may withdraw this consent at any time and exercise their rights of access, rectification, portability, erasure, limitation, and opposition by writing to: CALLE MALDONADO 65 ESCALERA B 1º IZQUIERDA -28006- Madrid (Madrid).
    E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Participants are also informed that they may file a complaint with the supervisory authority:www.aepd.es.