José María de Pereda (1833-1906) is one of the most important spanish writers of the XIX Century. His writings reflect the everyday life and customs of small villages and rural communities in the north of Spain, more precisely the Cantabria region. His works include customs articles and both long and short novels -as Blasones y talegas- that through precise character depictions and masterful dialect and customs recreations of exceptional literary qualities, may be considered both literary master pieces and etnographic documents. Once considered on par to Pérez Galdós, Clarín and Menéndez Pelayo, José María de Pereda is an author worth including within Peninsular Literature readings.