“If the rain respects us, this is going to be a record year. The bookstores bursting at the seams this weekend prove it,” Elena Ramírez, editorial director of Seix Barral, anticipated yesterday. The book sector is confident in the good results this Sant Jordi, “a day that, if it did not exist, not even Artificial Intelligence would know how to invent,” said the writer Màrius Serra yesterday at the La Vanguardia party, who admits to being “very surprised that in recent days we have all become meteorologists.”
If the forecasts come true, this could exceed – or at least equal – the figures for 2023, when the most participatory Sant Jordi took place and with the most sales in history, with 1.87 million copies and a turnover accumulated during the week of 24 million euros. There are several factors that invite this, such as the increase in the number of stops, which in Barcelona, ??from 2017 to 2024, has gone from 186 to 435; the footage, which is expanded by 3,356 meters; or that the festival falls on a weekday again for the first time since the pandemic, something that especially pleases the Secretary of State for Culture, Jordi Martí, as he considers that “the jewel of Sant Jordi during the week is multiplied by a thousand, because the majority of Companies let people leave early so they can buy a rose and a book. This unwritten agreement seems magical and metaphorical to me.” Martí regrets missing this event for the first time, as he will have to go to the Cervantes prize, but he claims to have done “a good preview” by going to Barcelona the day before to finalize his book purchases and attend the La Vanguardia party at the Alma hotel.
Whoever tries to know today who is the best-selling author in any category will not be able to fully satisfy their need, and will have to settle for “a list of trends of the five best-sellers in each category,” clarified the president of the Gremi de Llibreters, Èric del Arco, who asked journalists and the population in general, “not to ask about the best-selling books on April 23 itself because we will not know. We have taken note of what happened last year”, as there were several titles that rocked the podium in the following days of the festival. A measure that leaves attendees doubting whether it will avoid previous controversies. The final list, with all the scrutiny analyzed in full, is expected to be made public on April 29.
This is the Sant Jordi of the return to internationality, since there are many authors who, after learning about this Diada, which increasingly crosses more borders, are encouraged to come and sign. They have it much easier than in recent years, when the pandemic left the party at half throttle, although last year many chose to take a plane. Doug Dorst, Bonnie Garmus, Won-Pyung Sohn or Hernán Díaz with some of the foreign authors who will sign this Sant Jordi that opts for decentralization, since the stops have been distributed throughout the city. A model that is committed to proximity and that extends for the first time in seven districts, demonstrating that this is a party for everyone and for everyone.
Another aspect to take into account is that bookstores and publishers pay for the first time 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 recovers its entirety and is once again filled with roses and books from Canaletes to Santa Mònica. A co-payment system that, as Èric del Arco, president of the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya, pointed out in a press conference prior to the festival, “is here to stay.”
The price varies from 80 euros for a 6-meter booth if you are a member and 100 if you are not, with the possibility of expanding the stand to 12, 18 or 24 meters. It should be said that paradistas who are located in the professional areas of Diagonal-Les Corts, Rambla del Poblenou, Paseo Sant Joan-Arc de Triomf or next to the Gabriel García Márquez Library are exempt from this payment. At this last point, the Sant Jordi proclamation was going to take place, which this year was starred by the children’s literature writer, actor and comedian David Walliams. Finally, it was held at the Born Center de Cultura i Memòria and the power of children’s literature was vindicated. “It is important that children read for pleasure or they will never read as adults,” said the British author, who is behind titles Rat Sandwiches, Giant Slime and The Boy in the Dress.
“The change of location and the fact that this place was chosen instead of the Gabriel García Márquez library is not because of the library strike, but because of a matter of capacity, since before the auditorium could fit 140 people and now 250 will be able to attend. , with the possibility of expansion,” they confirmed to La Vanguardia a few days ago from the Consorci de Libraries, following the announcement of a stoppage of the centers on the 22nd, called by the Consorci’s Business Committee, made up of La Intersindical and the CGT.
