Peru mourns death of Nobel laureate writer Vargas Llosa

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvians mourned the death on Monday of lauded writer Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature and a former presidential candidate.

Peru's government declared Monday a national day of mourning, calling Vargas Llosa a "figure of national acclaim," while fans laid flowers outside his apartment in Lima's Barranco residential district.

The author died at 89 on Sunday in Lima, surrounded by his family. His family said he would be cremated, according to his wishes, and there would be no public ceremony.

Vargas Llosa "is a universally recognized figure whose work has contributed to the worldwide recognition of Peruvian literature and culture," the government said in a decree signed by President Dina Boluarte.

The president went on Monday afternoon to the writer's home to offer her condolences to Vargas Llosa's family.

Alvaro Vargas Llosa, the writer's son who is himself a well-known political commentator, told reporters stationed outside the Barranco home that the family wanted to express their gratitude to people around the world who had sent condolences.

Mario Vargas Llosa is recognized as one of the most important figures of the 20th century Latin American literature boom, with a vast body of work that narrates and analyses the social and political realities of the region.

He won the Nobel in 2010 for works like "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter," "Death in the Andes," and "The War of the End of the World."

In 1990 he ran for president, but was summarily defeated by agronomist Alberto Fujimori and left for Spain.

Spanish President Pedro Sanchez lamented the death of the author and expressed "gratitude as a reader for an immense work, for so many key books to understand our time."

(Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima; Additional Reporting by Rafael Escalera Montoto in Mexico City; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Rosalba O'Brien)