Catalonia’s Day of Books and Roses could return to pre-pandemic figures

Booksellers, publishers, and distributors believe that this year’s Sant Jordi celebrations on 23 April will not only see sales return to pre-pandemic figures, but will also be one of the biggest and most significant editions in history. It’s expected that this year could see a record number of people take part in the events on the streets, and huge volumes of sales are also expected after the two-year pandemic slump.

In Barcelona, a “literary superblock” is planned to open in the city center, creating a pedestrianized hub for a record number of book and flower sellers to come out to the streets. Extending from Diagonal to Gran Via and from Pau Claris to Balmes, traffic will only be allowed to cross through the block via Carrer d’Aragó or València.

Around 300 bookshops are expected to set up a stall in this area plus some other focal points spread throughout the city, 170 of which will also feature authors meeting readers and signing books, a beloved tradition of Sant Jordi’s Day. In 2019, the previous record high, around 240 stalls were opened. In the rest of the city, there will be additional cultural hubs in Sant Andreu, Gràcia, Les Corts, Poble Nou and Sarrià. In total, there will be almost 300 stalls open.

Cultural hubs

The president of the Book Chamber, Patrici Tixis, predicts that this new model has come to stay. Other cities such as Badalona, ​​Lleida, Terrassa, Girona and Lleida will also open similar open-air cultural hubs for book and flower merchants. The president of the Guild of Booksellers of Catalonia, Maria Carme Ferrer, remarked that this will be the first Sant Jordi “without restrictions” after the pandemic, expressing a lot of optimism for the day.

The sector says that this year’s celebrations could be “historic,” both for the number of people enjoying the day on the streets and for the sale of books, as well as for Barcelona’s new model of the “literary superblock.” “We are doing something new, but we hope [sales] will be at least like 2019, and if possible, even a little better,” Tixis said on Wednesday at an event to preview the day’s activities. In 2019, some 1,600,000 books were sold in the week of Sant Jordi, and the sector had a turnover of €22 million.

Sant Jordi falls on a Saturday this year, suggesting the day could see much more mobility and travel than usual, both in terms of Barcelona residents heading to other parts of the territory and vice versa. In any case, outside of Barcelona, ​​a larger Sant Jordi celebration is expected across Catalonia than in recent years and several other cities will adopt or repeat the model of a variety of spaces for bookstores and flower sellers, done last year for the pandemic.

Last year’s model was overall seen as a success for how it decongested parts of the city and favoured pedestrians. This will be the case for the likes of Girona, which will open in the La Devesa area this year with more stalls and a higher capacity, as well as in the centers of Tarragona, Lleida, Terrassa, Mataró, Banyoles, and Badalona.