Readers and authors take to the streets of Barcelona in a massive Sant Jordi

The writers compete in prominence with ministers and mayors in the pre-campaign

BARCELONA, 23 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Readers and authors have taken to the streets of Barcelona this Sunday in a massive celebration of the Diada de Sant Jordi, with its epicenter in the 'literary superblock' of Passeig de Gràcia and the adjacent crowded streets and the recovery of La Rambla.

The Sant Jordi Day this Sunday returned with "the greatest offer of all time" in terms of spaces, stops and author signatures throughout Catalonia, as the Cambra del Llibre assured, in an edition without any restrictions due to the pandemic.

In the Catalan capital there are 11.5% more stops than the previous year, going from 287 last year to 320 now; also an increase of 17% in terms of the meters allocated to the day; and 25% more signatures of authors, which rises from the 170 spaces to the 213 planned for this edition.

After the Barcelona City Council breakfast at the Palau de la Virreina, the authors have begun their marathon days of signing, with authors with long queues such as Pedro Almodóvar, Alice Kellen and Carles Porta.

One of the most requested writers has been the filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who has said that it is wonderful to see so many people "celebrating friendship and reading" in the streets of Barcelona in his first participation in Sant Jordi.

Another of the authors with long lines has been Alice Kellen, who has thanked that Sant Jordi is "a moment of meeting and connecting with readers", and the journalist Carles Porta, who has dedicated the Diada to the writer Josep Maria Espinàs -- who died in February--, whom he has defined as a teacher.

The writer Eva Baltasar has celebrated with a toast with cava at the stand of her publishing house Club Editor, on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, ​​being one of the finalists for the Booker International Award with her novel 'Boulder'.

This edition of the Sant Jordi Day has featured illustrious newcomers, such as the Swedish novelist Camilla Läckberg and the mentalist Henrik Fexeus, authors of 'La secta', and the writer has not hesitated to point out that "Spanish fans are the most enthusiastic" and loving.

Also debuting were Gemma Ventura, winner of the Josep Pla Award, who has assured that she is experiencing "a lot of first things", and Andrea Genovart, winner of the Llibres Anagrama Award, who has said that she loves when readers tell her that "they have laughed".

The actress and playwright Juana Dolores made their debut, who was very happy to be able to enjoy her first Sant Jordi as a writer, and the Canadian Robin Sharma, who described it as an "amazing" day.

Others more common to the appointment with the readers in Sant Jordi are Javier Cercas, who has pointed out that this day is like "a miracle that happens every year in Barcelona and Catalonia", and Fernando Aramburu, who has celebrated being able to have a little conversation with readers who ask you to sign their books.

Dolores Redondo has celebrated the "tide of affection" that she receives in a Diada without the restrictions derived from the pandemic such as masks; Eduardo Mendoza has celebrated the contact with readers, even though it is sometimes hasty and seems like an assembly line, and Luz Gabás has affirmed that he is a special Sant Jordi after having won the Premio Planeta.

The writer Josep Vallverdú has signed books this Sunday in Barcelona in the year that celebrates his centenary: "Normally he did not come to Barcelona for Sant Jordi, but this year it was worth it", and Pilarín Bayés has said that, despite having signed for 40 years , every year is different.

The journalist and writer Xavier Bosch has proposed rethinking the model of the literary 'superblock' given the difficulties he has had in moving between stops to sign books: "We are dying of success", a difficulty in mobility that has also been referred to Other authors.

It is a Sant Jordi also with a pre-campaign climate with a lot of political presence, in which they have seen from ministers such as the Presidency, Fèlix Bolaños, Labor, Yolanda Díaz, and Culture, Miquel Iceta, to the leader of the PP , Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

Bolaños has assured that "today Catalonia and Barcelona look to the future with optimism", Díaz has vindicated the festivity and the multilingual nature of Spain, and Iceta has encouraged reading more so that people live more lives in a single life.

The leader of the PP has claimed Sant Jordi as the festival of tranquility and tolerance, an "icon" of Catalonia that he sees as one of the most cosmopolitan places in Europe.

The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, has taken advantage of the Sant Jordi Day to claim it as a day to defend the Catalan language, and has answered the central government about its reluctance to its proposal for a clarity agreement: "Voting is never a trap , democracy is never a trap".