For the second time, Nobel prize winning author Mario Vargas Llosa has turned down a government offer to become president of the Cervantes Institute, although he reiterated his willingness to cooperate with the institute.
Vargas Llosa was first offered the post by Prime Minister José María Aznar back in 1996.
The Cervantes Institute has 77 centres in 44 countries on 5 continents and was created in 1991 to promote the Spanish language throughout the world.
Mario Vargas Llosa, now 75, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010.