MADRID (AP) — Spanish novelist Eduardo Mendoza has won the 2016 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.

The prize was announced Wednesday by Education and Culture Minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo, who says beginning from the 1975 publication of Mendoza's novel, "La verdad sobre el caso Savolta" (The Truth about the Savolta Case), the author had brought a new narrative style to Spanish fiction. He said Mendoza's books are "full of subtlety and irony."

Several of Mendoza's novels have been translated into other languages, including English.

The 125,000-euro ($132,000) prize generally alternates between Spanish and Latin American writers. Mexican author Fernando del Paso won the prize last year.

The prizes are presented each April 23 on the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote."