Sant Jordi Day Guide: Where will there be stops?

BarcelonaStill with the memory of having experienced, just under a year ago, "the best Sant Jordi in history" in terms of book sales –25.4 million in turnover, a million and a half more than the previous edition–, the Book Chamber of Catalonia has presented the campaign for this 2025. The day will fall goes through a sweet moment, as confirmed by the union at the end of 2024: more than 1.2 billion in turnover, of which 260 in Catalonia, confirming that the book market has grown by around 35% in the last five years.

"The only thing that can get in our way is the weather, but even the rainy days have gone well. Sant Jordi is a key moment for the sector and also for Catalan literature: it's the time of year when more books are sold in Catalan than in Spanish," explained Patrici Tixis, president of the Cambra.

More stops than ever in Barcelona

In total there will be 400 rose and book stalls in the Catalan capital: 348 book stalls, 200 of them signed by authors, and 52 rose stalls, which will occupy more than 3,500 m².², plus the hundreds of stalls in front of bookstores. For the second time since the pandemic, Sant Jordi falls on a weekday. This, coupled with the sector's strong momentum, suggests a highly participatory day similar to that of 2024. As was the case the day before, a fee will have to be paid depending on the size of the stall: it ranges from 96 to 485 euros.

Sales during the Sant Jordi campaign represent more than 10% of the sector's annual turnover in Catalonia. For a bookstore, this means selling in a week as much as in a month. "For booksellers, this holiday forces us to work well in advance; we've been thinking about Sant Jordi almost since after the Christmas campaign," recalled Èric del Arco, president of the Booksellers' Association. "We want to emphasize that it's an inclusive and very transversal holiday. With a rose and a book, you're telling someone you love them."

The 'bibliodiversity' celebration

"In Barcelona alone, one million people mobilize for Sant Jordi," commented Patrici Tixis. "It's the most festive weekday of the year," recalled Xavier Marcé, Councilor for Culture at Barcelona City Council. Nearly two million books are sold in one week, of which the bestsellers "only represent 5% of total sales," added the president of the Book Chamber. Therefore, he wanted to remind everyone that the ranking of best-selling books is only a small proportion of the "bibliodiversity" of Sant Jordi: "Last day, more than 70,000 different titles were sold." On the 23rd, a trend ranking will be announced, taking into account the three or four days prior to the 23rd, but the final list of bestsellers will not be made public until the following week.

Seven districts full of books

Sant Jordi also continues to expand throughout the city. In Barcelona, there will be stops in seven districts for the second time, with the idea of expanding the day and making it more accessible and safe. "The big difference with last year is that all the spaces are growing: in Gràcia, for example, where there are many bookstores and a strong network of associations, we've doubled the space, and the same is happening in Poble Nou," commented Marià Marín, technical secretary of the Gremi de Llibreters (Booklists' Guild). "Along the perimeter of Passeig de Gràcia, we've added a cross street, Mallorca, which will make Sant Jordi a more comfortable experience for everyone," added the technical secretary.

As for La Rambla, which is currently partially under construction, they didn't want to give it up as an "emblematic and safe" space during the day. "There will be shutdowns again on all sections, from Canaletes to Drassanes," said Marín. "On April 23rd, there will be no machines working and no cars or motorcycles circulating." The Eixample and Ciutat Vella areas will have the largest number of shutdowns: 203 and 94, respectively. In the Gràcia district, there will be 23. In Sant Martí, 11, and in Les Corts, 10. Sant Jordi will also be celebrated again in Sant Andreu and Sarrià, with 5 and 2 shutdowns, respectively.

The day throughout Catalonia

"We have one of the densest bookstore networks in Europe," Marín explained. "That's why Sant Jordi is celebrated with intensity throughout the country." In Girona and Tarragona, the festival will once again be concentrated on the Ramblas, where bookstores will set up their stalls. In Lleida, the stalls will once again be concentrated on Rambla de Ferran and Avinguda de Francesc Macià. In Vic, perhaps the city with the most bookstores per capita in the country, bookstores will again stop in its most emblematic space, the Plaza Mayor. In Reus, the festival will be held in the emblematic Plaza Mercadal, and in Manresa, the chosen venue will be, as usual, Passeig Pere III. "Sant Jordi is a unique opportunity to strengthen the social role of literature," stressed the Minister of Culture of the Generalitat, Sonia Hernández Almodóvar. "From the Government, we continue working to implement the Book and Reading Plan, with a triple objective: to have more readers, more regular readers, and more in Catalan."

A committed town crier

Xavier Marcé has announced who will deliver this year's Sant Jordi opening speech. It will be the Mexican writer and feminist figure. Cristina Rivera Garza, known for books such as No one will see me cry (Tusquets, 1999) and, above all, Liliana's invincible summer (Random House, 2021), for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in its English version. In the book, Rivera Garza recounted the life of her younger sister, murdered in 1990. She did so based on the letters and notes of the young literature student, but also thanks to the testimony of family members, friends, university classmates, and the journalist who wrote several articles on the case. The Mexican writer will take advantage of her visit to Barcelona to present her new book, Land (Random House Literature, 2025).