Saint George endures everything
Sant Jordi, the great civic and cultural festival of Catalonia, endures everything. Literary sugar excesses and critical or humorous boutades. However cutesy we make it, however much of a profile some people adopt, we all end up celebrating the diada. It's unbeatable. Who gives up choosing a book? Who doesn't want to receive or give a rose? It's so hard to stay on the sidelines... It's a marvel that somehow works on its own, by the force of popular adherence that overcomes all mental and ideological borders, that is part of what we call shared identity. Because the magic formula doesn't fail: book and rose. So simple and so brilliant. As they say now in gastronomy, they pair well: reading and love-nature.
If to this we add the reality of the streets and squares full, the combination of a workday with a festive air, the very shared protagonism – adults and children, writers and readers –, the four-striped bakeries and pastry shops, the associations making the day their own and, overall, a spontaneous good vibe even in homes, it's difficult to think of a better alternative.
There is also an added value, which is not insignificant in the sociolinguistic moment we are in: it is a day when Catalan has a greater presence than usual, a day to reclaim the language, which remains absolutely necessary given the evidence of its decline in social use. Sant Jordi also has the character of a joyful, positive, uninhibited, and normalized reclamation of the country's own historical language. By contrast, of course, one thinks it would be good if Catalan received the same attention and consideration in bookstores, conversations, and the media all year round.
And while we're at it, it would also be good to stop politicizing the language with a persecutory intent, as we see happening again, for example, in neighboring Aragon, where the new government pact reached between the PP and Vox establishes "freeing Aragon from the imposition of Catalan." Does anyone really think that Catalan is being imposed in Aragon? The distortion of reality promoted by the far-right can reach grotesque dimensions. Instead of fighting a phantom in La Franja, and renouncing a shared linguistic heritage, perhaps it would be more intelligent for Aragon to embrace the festival of books and roses, and to strengthen cultural ties with Catalonia, linking with the memory of the ancient Crown of Aragon. Right now, unfortunately, this seems unachievable.
On the feast of Sant Jordi, now and always, everyone is welcome. Books of all genres and themes can be found. Bestseller lists are part of the tradition, but they represent only a small part of sales. It is a festival of fabulous plurality and tolerance. Catalonia's multilingual reality is very much present, with the positive discrimination of Catalan sufficiently assumed. A discrimination – normalization – that must continue to be defended in schools, which, incidentally, are also a pillar of the festival of books and roses. So, once again and for many years to come, happy Sant Jordi to all.