Despite the forecasts for rain, the enthusiasm for Sant Jordi 2022 is undampened. After two years in which one of Catalonia's most special days has been affected by the restrictions arising from the pandemic, Catalans are preparing to make this Saturday, April 23rd a Diada de Sant Jordi that will recover all of its spirit. This year, for the first time, Barcelona will concentrate the party on a literary superblock in the streets of the city centre - and the fact that Catalonia's great festival of books and roses falls on a Saturday also makes it special. Below we detail what you need to know to experience Sant Jordi 2022 in Barcelona and other major municipalities of Catalonia.
📚 Books for Sant Jordi 2022: check out our 25 recommendations in Catalan
Where will the book and rose stalls be in Barcelona?
In this Sant Jordi 2022, Barcelona will premiere a literary superblock. The city council has agreed with the book sector to create this space that restores pre-pandemic normalcy. The epicentre of the celebration of the diada - festive day - will be the large quadrilateral bordered at its downtown end by Gran Via and uptown by Avinguda Diagonal, and between the vertical streets of Pau Claris and Balmes. Vehicles will be able to drive on these perimeter streets and also on the streets of Aragó and València. The rest of the streets within that large perimeter will be pedestrian only. And the quadrilateral will contain two distinct areas. The axis of Passeig de Gràcia will be reserved for professional booksellers and florists. Associations and entities will be installed on the Rambla de Catalunya axis.
Weather permitting, Barcelona seeks to host its first fully-fledged Sant Jordi for three years. Photo: Laura Gómez
Record number of Sant Jordi stalls planned in the centre of Barcelona
The president of the booksellers guild of Catalonia, Maria Carme Ferrer, has affirmed that in the centre of the city there will be 300 book stalls by guild members, 170 of which will offer the possibility of signed and dedicated copies from the authors who will be present at scheduled times. These numbers exceed the 240 stalls that there were in the last full Sant Jordi, in 2019.
As well as the central "superblock", this year there will also be special activities on Plaça Universitat and Passeig de Sant Joan, which, after being closed for two years, will concentrate all activities related to comics, graphic novels, children's and young people's literature.
Beyond that, several other districts of the city will have special spaces for the day. They will be Ciutat Vella (Plaça Reial and Passeig de Lluís Companys which will link with Passeig de Sant Joan and La Rambla where there will only be stalls for booksellers from the district), Gràcia (Plaça de la Vila and Plaça Salmerón), Les Corts (Diagonal, at the level of Plaça Valdívia), Poblenou (Rambla), Sant Andreu (Plaça d'Orfila) and Sarrià (Plaça de Sarrià). In addition, all bookstores in the city will be able have a stall on the street in front of their establishment, both on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd.
Find your local book and rose stall space on the city map below.
The Sant Jordi proclamation on Friday 22nd
One of the most special moments of the Sant Jordi celebration in Barcelona is its proclamation. This year, the writer chosen to make the keynote address is the prize-winning novelist and teacher Imma Monsó. Thus, the proclamation of Sant Jordi 2022, will be on Friday 22nd at 6pm at the Saló de Cent, off Barcelona's Plaça del Rei. During the event, she will also talk to Anna Guitart about her work and the role that reading and libraries have played in her life. The writer joins the prestigious list of those who have heralded in the event in the city since 2003. In 2020, the pandemic forced the cancellation of the traditional proclamation.
The City's deputy mayor responsible for culture, Jordi Martí, has explained that the number of stalls in the city will be between 6,000 and 7,000, a figure similar to or higher than in past years, and he confirmed that there will be more square metres of booktables because on Passeig de Gràcia alone there is already a huge area compared to other years. "Bookstores were asking for more space and there will be no restrictions this year," he said.
Barcelona will celebrate Sant Jordi with a literary superblock. Photo: Laura Gómez
Sant Jordi book signings
Writer's round tables, and encounters with authors have been underway already this week in the context of the Diàlegs de Sant Jordi, and on April 23rd these give way to other special events. At 9am on Saturday morning, authors and publishers will meet on the Rambla at the Palau de la Virreina for the now traditional Sant Jordi breakfast. Sant Jordi events are also held every year in other cities and in 2022, marking the centenary of the birth of José Saramago, an event will be held in Lisbon on April 23rd to commemorate his 2004 proclamation speech for Barcelona's Sant Jordi.
And a sign of a full return to normalcy for Sant Jordi is the number of authors who will be present at different points to sign and dedicate their books: see the link to the full list below. Spoiler: it's long.
✍🏼 Book signings on Sant Jordi 2022: check out hours and locations
Sant Jordi architecture ...and music
Here's a question: which Barcelona building represents the legend of Sant Jordi and the dragon integrated into its architecture? It is none other than Casa Batlló, and Antoni Gaudí’s iconic work will once again be adorned with red roses, on its balconies and doorways in 2022. Meanwhile, for music lovers, the Antiga Fàbrica Estrella Damm will once again offer a full day of excellent musical appreciation options in a new edition of the Sant Jordi Musical - and not that it covers both Saturday and Sunday. On 23rd and 24th April from 11:30am to after 8pm, the old beer factory at Carrer Rosselló 515 will open its doors for free to all those people who want to enjoy the live performances of 22 artists and musical groups, as well as the best gastronomy, from local food trucks.
Poster for Sant Jordi 2022 in Barcelona
And as for the roses of Sant Jordi?
In this festival of books and roses, the books start with an advantage as far as news is concerned - since the new titles and top sellers of the year are of huge interest. But the complementary Sant Jordi search - for the perfect rose to give to one's nearest and dearest - is just as important. This year, the professional florists, like the book sellers, will be found in the superblock and and the other exclusive spaces, spread across different parts of the city and shown on the map above. On both the 21st and 22nd, flower and bookstalls can be set up in front of businesses; and bakers will be able to do the same, as they have done in previous editions. Sant Jordi in 2022 will also return to the Rambla, as is traditional, but there will be less crowding than in other years, according to deputy mayor Martí. The number of stalls will be maintained but the difference is that all the bookshops in the Raval and Gòtic will be installed on the Rambla. There will also be flowers everywhere. "This year we are back to normal," said Jordi Martí. Fingers crossed that the weather holds. Give someone a Grossa de Sant Jordi lottery ticket for luck - the draw is on 27th April.
Sant Jordi in the four Catalan capitals
Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona and Lleida are all preparing to fill their streets with roses and books on the first full diada since the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions were eased, without the obligatory use of masks. If there is a literary superblock in Barcelona, in Girona the book and rose stalls will be re-installed on the Esplanada de la Copa and on the Passeig de la Devesa. Until the outbreak of the pandemic, the traditional point of sale of books and roses was the Rambla de la Llibertat, but on April 23rd, 2021 the sale of books and roses was moved from this usual focus to the Devesa to avoid crowds. A proposal that was very well received both by the professional guilds involved - in fact it has been the Guild of Booksellers and Florists of the city, and part of the public, who have asked to continue at the Devesa in 2022.
In Lleida, the epicenter of Sant Jordi will be la Rambla de Ferran, from 9am to 9 pm. The social and cultural organizations' stalls will be located there and in Plaça Sant Joan, while the roses and books will be found on Avinguda Francesc Macià. In Tarragona, this year and in line with the model started in 2021, the epicentre of the activity on April 23rd will be focused on the Rambla Nova, where the bookstalls and rose tables, as well as all the social and cultural groups, will be concentrated.