Following the publication of "The heretic" his writing career came virtually to a halt, mainly because of the colon cancer that affected the writer during the final phase of writing his last great novel. He was largely disabled and fell victim to an ever-greater apathy. His last book, "La Tierra Herida" (The wounded earth) published in 2005, takes the form of a dialogue between him and his eldest son, Miguel Delibes, the former head of "Doñana" national park. The book is a moving account of climate change. In 2007 he received the Quijote Prize for Spanish Literature, although in later years his literary production was practically nil, with just a few titles, such as "De Valladolid "(From Valladolid). Since he was disabled, Juan Carlos I and Sofia of Greece, the king and queen of Spain, personally visited the writer at his home in Valladolid after he was awarded the Vocento Prize for Human Values. He was recognized by his city with the creation of the Route of the Heretic based on his novel and the construction of the "Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes", which is both a conservatory and auditorium as well as a convention center.