Sant Jordi on Las Ramblas is surely the most traditional image of Book and Rose Day in Barcelona. A happy human tide invading the space from side to side, surrounded by stalls of books and roses. This year the same image, because no one doubts by now the massive success of the festival, will move to the nearest avenue, Portal de l’Àngel, and continue through Plaça Nova and the Cathedral square until reaching Via Laietana. The historical epicenter moves to the most commercial center to bypass the works on Las Ramblas. This is the main novelty of a Sant Jordi that gains space and stalls in the city, but also throughout Catalonia, in a unique day that continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
The Cambra del Llibre de Catalunya and the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya, together with the Barcelona City Council and the Department of Culture, presented this Thursday the novelties for Sant Jordi, which in Barcelona mainly consist of this new axis of stalls, in addition to the growth of the Les Corts area and the Sant Joan and Lluís Companys promenades. For years, the festival has tried to spread out by offering alternatives to the center, which is still dominated by Passeig de Gràcia.
At the presentation, Patrici Tixis, president of the Book Guild, which groups associations and guilds of publishers, booksellers, distributors, and the graphic industry, stated that the organizers’ intention “is not to set a new record,” but that “everyone finds the book they are looking for” on a day that is always very exposed to the weather, the main factor (except for viruses) that can spoil it, as has happened some years. Tixis emphasized that 75,000 titles go on sale that day, placing maximum emphasis on diversity, when about 2 million books are sold. It is a “very well organized” day with “a lot of work behind it,” highlighted the president of the book guild.
Still, the festival always ends with a bestseller list that reduces Sant Jordi to ten titles and books, which in total represent approximately 5% of sales. It is not a formula liked by everyone but in this regard Eric del Arco, president of the Gremi de Llibreters, was clear: “I was not very much in favor of the list, but if we don’t make it, others will do it with less reliability and data. So we will do it, since we have the sources.”
Besides considering that Sant Jordi “celebrates the strength of a culture and the cohesion of a country,” Eric del Arco recalled that the new axis in the Gothic Quarter is a temporary space where the stalls that used to be on Las Ramblas will be located. “But we will see how it works, sometimes temporary things become permanent,” he predicted, citing as an example La Setmana del Llibre en Català, which moved from the port to the Lluís Companys avenue, next to the Arc de Triomf, after being held there for a year due to the organization of the America’s Cup.
In Barcelona, the epicenter of the festival, 425 stalls of books and roses will be set up in seven districts of the city, with Eixample being the busiest with 243 stalls, while Ciutat Vella will have 110, Gràcia 35, Poblenou 15, Sant Andreu 5, and Sarrià 3. In the Sant Joan promenade area, dedicated to comics and children’s and youth books, the stalls will reach Plaça Tetuán, as well as on Lluís Companys avenue, which will reach Ciutadella Park. The sector that grows the most is Les Corts, where, at the request of the district itself, there will be more atmosphere than ever with 14 stalls.
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Book signings by writers, which are always the other big attraction for citizens, responsible for the long lines that spread through the center, will be distributed among 364 stalls. There will be 61 rose stalls spread across the seven districts. In addition, the licenses to set up a stall on the street, which are used by all kinds of associations, schools, political parties, or institutions, will be 5,489. “Year after year we are reaching the growth ceiling,” assured Patrici Tixis, who stressed that security is always the main limit.
For his part, the Barcelona City Council’s Culture councilor, Xavier Marcé, highlighted that Sant Jordi “is a spectacular day that honors us, the confluence of belonging and participation in cultural reality.” In the city, it goes beyond the 23rd with activities that have already started, such as those in libraries. One of the most awaited guests is Han Kang, Nobel Prize in Literature 2024, or Ali Smith, who will be the Sant Jordi announcer in a dialogue with her Catalan translator, Dolors Udina.
Sònia Hernández, Culture counselor of the Generalitat, also participated in the presentation, highlighting that it is one of the most notable days in Catalonia. “It shapes the identity of our country in an indisputable way and recognizes such a strategic sector,” she said. After mentioning that Culture supports it with 16 million euros to boost the publishing sector, of which 10 million are for publishing in the Catalan language, Hernández emphasized that this year the Government recovers the traditional chocolate event in the Pati dels Tarongers of the Palau de la Generalitat. An event that was supposed to be recovered in 2025 but was canceled due to the official mourning for the death of the Pope.
The festival throughout Catalonia
Although Barcelona takes almost all the attention, Book and Rose Day is celebrated throughout Catalonia, and increasingly so. In Girona, this year the stalls will be concentrated on Sant Francesc avenue due to the works being carried out in Plaça de Catalunya. In the other cities, the usual central areas are repeated, such as Plaça Major in Banyoles, Passeig d’en Blay in Olot, Plaça Major in Vic, Passeig de Pere III in Manresa, Rambla de Ferran and Francesc Macià avenue in Lleida, the historic center of Mercadal in Balaguer, and Plaça del Carme in Tàrrega.
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