“Is the copayment system here to stay on Sant Jordi? If that allows us to work better, yes. Everything points to it. But we will open the reflection within the sector once the day is over”. This is what Eric del Arco, president of the Booksellers Guild of Catalonia, said at a press conference held this Monday at the Ateneu Barcelonès to advance how the celebration of Book and Rose Day, which this year falls on a working day, is planned for the first time since the pandemic. The union’s technical secretary, Marià Marín, also participated; the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga; the Councilor for Culture and Creative Industries of Barcelona City Council, Xavier Marsé; and Jordi Ferré, representing the Book Chamber of Catalonia.
This 2024 will be the first year that bookstores and publishers will have to pay if what they want is to have a stop in the “professional areas” of Barcelona. That is, those that require certain services (lighting, security…) and that are located in some of the central points of the city: in Plaza Universitat; in Sarrià square; in Orfila Square, Sant Andreu; on Passeig Lluís Companys, on Gran de Gràcia street; and on La Rambla, birthplace of this festivity, which this year, as a novelty, recovers its entirety and will be filled with roses and books from Canaletes to Santa Mònica.
The price will start at 80 euros for a 6-meter booth if you are a member and 100 if you are not, with the possibility of having 12, 18 or 24 meters. In addition, there will be other professional areas, in which paradistas will not pay, and which are located in the Diagonal-Les Corts area; on Rambla del Poblenou; on the Sant Joan-Arc de Triomf promenade and next to the Gabriel García Márquez Library, where the day before the children’s literature writer David Walliams will give the proclamation.
More than a hundred associations, entities and people in the cultural field denounced in mid-March what they consider the “privatization” of the Diada and signed a manifesto advocating “a popular festival.” Del Arco has responded to all the protests that have arisen since the measure was announced: “We are very excited to celebrate Sant Jordi, but we also like that we can work under optimal conditions. And in Barcelona we have found a way that allows us to do it well, taking into account that we have gone from 186 stops in 2017 to 435 in 2024”, points out Del Arco, who assures that the previous model “has become unviable”, taking into account He realizes that “more than a million people are coming to the city center this day.” The new fee hopes to raise a maximum of 40,000 euros, which represents “between 15 and 17% of the total cost” of Sant Jordi.
Councilor Garriga has invited us to “turn our gaze” and recalled that “the Administration contributes around 85% to this activity”, which means “a very clear commitment” since “the normal thing is that whoever does and promotes and does the activity makes a small contribution.” The cost of all this amounts, according to the figures released by Ferré, to more than 245,000 euros, of which the Generalitat contributes 175,000 and the City Council, 30,000, in addition to the logistics of the Urban Guard,
La Cambra, for its part, is convinced that “the implementation of spaces dedicated to the book and the rose have been key to the rationalization of the festival, apart from the improvements in security, efficiency and services.” And, once again this year, Sant Jordi once again breaks records in different areas. There will be 336 stops (16 more than last year), in addition to having another hundred in front of bookstores, bringing the total to 435. The footage is also expanded by 3,356 meters, as well as the positions provided for author signings. , 214, one more than last April 23.
Another of the peculiarities of this Sant Jordi is that the name of the best-selling books of the day will not be announced on the same night of the 23rd. “A list will be disseminated with the trends of the five best-selling books in each category,” he said. clarified the president of the Gremi de Llibreters, who acknowledges having “taken note of what happened last year”, since there were several titles that rocked the podium in the following days of the festival. The final list, with all the scrutiny analyzed in full, will be given on April 29.
