Juan Marsé's legacy will go to the new State Public Library

BarcelonaThe acquisition of the writer's archive Juan Marsé Barcelona has become the unexpected protagonist at the inauguration of the future State Public Library. "Despite being the second most populated province in the State, Barcelona still does not have a central public library," lamented Ernest Urtasun, current Minister of Culture, on the site next to França station where, if all goes well within five years, the long-awaited facility will be built. He was accompanied by representatives of the other administrations involved in the project: the Generalitat (Generalitat), the Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputació de Barcelona), and the City Council. With a budget of 82 million euros, the State Public Library "will have a usable area of more than 16,000 m², spread over eight floors," the minister advanced: "In size only the National Library of Spain will surpass it."

The formerly known as the "provincial library" is only three centuries late, if compared to the founding of the National Library in Madrid (1711). Even so, Catalonia has been, for almost all of it, an Island, president of the Generalitat. "The first Catalan public library was inaugurated in Reus in 1859, and in 1915 the Mancomunidad promoted the library network," he continued. "Right now there are 449 public libraries in service in Catalonia, the result of a joint effort between city councils, provincial councils and the government of the Generalitat." "It is a successful model, that of libraries, a system very well rooted in the territory," said Lluïsa Moret, president of the Barcelona Provincial Council. In the Barcelona Provincial Council alone, we have 236 public libraries and 13 bookmobiles."

After many delays, the Barcelona State Public Library project was revived in 2019 by Miquel Iceta, then Minister of Culture, and six years later work on the facility has finally begun. Isla said. "This library must be the figurehead of the entire Catalan library network." "It will be a true palace of culture," Urtasun added. Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​wanted to emphasize that the new library "must be a fundamental piece in the broad transformation of the Ciutadella environment, which will have science as its neighborhood." remodeling of the Martorell Center, the imminent reconfiguration of the Zoo, the start of work on the Castle of the Three Dragons - which had housed the Zoology Museum - and the construction of a new Science Park in the three buildings of the Old Fish Market

The future State Public Library will have children's music, as well as an auditorium, multiple information points and multipurpose spaces for study, reading and meeting. It will also be a "repository of the legacies of great writers linked to Barcelona." The first thing the public administration has purchased is that of Juan Marsé as an author Last evenings with Teresa and If they tell you that I fell"The archive we have acquired from the family includes the originals of his works, both manuscripts and typescripts, workbooks, correspondence with editors and writers, photographs, and other valuable documents belonging to the author," the ministry announced. However, the purchase price for Marsé's legacy has not been specified.