A stall of the National Police in the city of wonders

BarcelonaIndeed, Saint George is like capitalism, which integrates everything. On Rambla de Catalunya, between stands of roses, NGOs, and political parties, I stumble upon one from the National Police, just below Mallorca street. I feel a chill and instinctively move away. I'd say there are no Mossos: for now, they've been given the mission of entering secondary schools undercover. On a day like today, Catalan police might have to recite poems that don't incite violence, without dragons or Saint Georges, much to Mendoza's delight. Meanwhile, the police of old are handing out leaflets to children on Rambla de Catalunya. Barcelona, indeed, continues to be a city of wonders.

Further down, on a corner, is the PSC's corner. When I pass by, a very long queue crosses it. They are waiting for Pedro's signature, but not Sánchez's, rather Almodóvar's, who is at the Finestres bookstore. In front of Illa's party's stand, some social workers take advantage of the appearance of former president Montilla: "Feminized services, precarious services!" they shout. I heard a similar cry a while before at Portal de l'Àngel from striking librarians. The most expensive street in Barcelona this year also has stalls, including that of ARA, where we don't give away the newspaper, but we do offer it at a not at all abusive price. "For the cost of a dinner, you have the digital subscription all year round," I reply to a kind gentleman. We do give away blue balloons.

In front of Barcelona's most luxurious hotel, the Mandarin on Passeig de Gràcia, is the Adesiara publishing house, dedicated to ancient and modern classics. Cultural luxury facing the luxury of the rich. For a day, editor Jordi Raventós acts as a bookseller. "Kaminski's book is selling quite well," says a German journalist who lived through the early days of the Civil War in Barcelona ninety years ago. He was one of those who thought the revolution would triumph. But in 1936-39, Saint George did not kill the Francoist dragon.

Bolaños' 'hater'

I return to the syncretic Sant Jordi of 2026. Now I meet Minister Félix Bolaños, who wanted to greet David Trueba. He tells me he lived in Barcelona and loves the festival of books and roses. He worked as a lawyer for the Bank of Spain here. People take selfies with him and, from a distance, a heckler shouts at him: “You don't have much time left!”. “For Sant Jordi, even the haters observe civility and keep their distance,” says Daniel Fernández, president of the Publishers' Guild.

Most of the queues I see are for authors in Spanish or foreigners also translated into Catalan. The Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang, Joël Dicker, Sonsoles Onega... I ask two officials about the health of Catalan. Will we save the language that 32% of people habitually speak and that who knows how many habitually read? Both respond with bomb-proof optimism: “Of course!”. They are the Councillor for Language of the Government, Francesc Xavier Vila, and Marta Salicrú, commissioner for the Social Use of Catalan.

As a good sociolinguist, Vila provides data: each year we gain 20,000 new speakers, ‒even though they are not habitual ones.” In a confidential tone, he points out to me that President Illa, who is in favor of regularizing immigrants, is clear that Catalan “has to be a requirement.” Perfect. And let's see how we do it.

Free ourselves from Spanish?

For now, the day before we have suffered the Aragonese impact (not from the former president, but from the neighbors): the new PP-Vox government wants to liquidate the language spoken in La Franja, that of Duran i Lleida or Francesc Serés. They have agreed to “free Aragon from the imposition of Catalan”. Imposition? Anyway, Josep Benet would call it “cultural genocide” and he wouldn’t be far wrong. Can anyone imagine a Catalan government with a program stating “free Catalonia from the imposition of Castilian”? The media, political, and judicial crusade that would be organized would be a real spectacle.

Gregorio Luri, a Navarrese pedagogist and intellectual who has become Catalanized, is now an editor, “and I still don’t know what red numbers are”. Yes, Sant Jordi is about literature and also about numbers. Today, the important thing is that the card readers work, says the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández. The festival will once again be a success of numbers and literature. Also of spaces. Pep Lafarga, general secretary of the Guild, is clear: “We don’t need to grow anymore, but we do need to keep expanding”. Literature, numbers, spaces... and readers? For good readers, a scoop: in June Proa will present a complete edition, in three volumes, of The Lives of Giorgio Vasari: 200 biographies of painters, sculptors, and architects of the Renaissance. By family tradition, Martí Domínguez has taken charge of it. The luxury of saving Catalan with good books.