The festival of Sant Jordi, also known as the Day of the Book outside Catalonia, is celebrated on 23 April every year throughout Catalonia. This festival is an opportunity to honour the patron saint of Catalonia, Saint George, and to celebrate culture and the love of reading.
During this festival, the streets of Barcelona are filled with book stalls and roses, which are the symbols of the Sant Jordi festival. Renowned authors join in the celebration, signing copies of their works for lovers of reading. If you’re a university student in Barcelona, you can’t miss this unique celebration!
For the 2024 edition, it is expected that literature lovers will be able to find a large number of new releases at the book fair, from fiction novels to non-fiction and poetry. Many international authors are also expected to join this year’s celebration, which will increase the variety of books available.
If you are a literature lover, you should know that this edition will have an island closed to traffic in the heart of the Eixample, between Diagonal, Gran Via, Balmes and Pau Claris streets. This space will also extend along the Rambla and Gran de Grècia. The rest of Barcelona will celebrate the festival with reserved spaces in the different districts of the city, where many shopkeepers will be able to set up their book and rose stalls in the street from 22 April.
List of best-selling Sant Jordi books
If you are looking for a book for yourself or to give as a gift this Sant Jordi and you don’t know where to start or which one to choose, here is a small list of the best-selling books for 2024 in each category:
Fiction
- Tres enigmas para la organización – Eduardo Mendoza
- El hijo olvidado – Mikel Santiago
- Las hijas de la criada – Sonsoles Ónega
- La mujer fugitiva – Alicia Giménez Bartlett
- París despertaba tarde – Máximo Huerta
Non-fiction
- La sociedad de la nieve – Pablo Vierci
- La llamada – Leila Guerriero
- El abismo del olvido – Paco Roca y Rodrigo Terrasa
- Detrás del ruido – Ángel Martín
- Neurociencia del cuerpo – Nazareth Castellanos
Poetry
- Rocamboleska – Bebi Fernández
- Lo que pasa es que te quiero – Gloria Fuertes
- Un cuerpo agotado – Patricia Benito
- Lo que la poesía aún no ha escrito – Elvira Sastre
- Ojalá – Defreds
Children and Youth
- Alas de sangre – Rebecca Yarros
- Invisible – Eloy Moreno
- Una influencer muerta en París – Blue jeans
- Aunque llueva en primavera – Cherry Chic
- 30 sunsets para enamorarte – Mercedes Ron
Psychology and self-improvement
- Recupera tu mente, reconquista tu vida – Marian Rojas Estapé
- Hábitos atómicos – James Clear
- Terapia para llevar – Ana Pérez
- Me quiero, te quiero – María Escaplez
- Ama tu soledad – Borja Vilaseca
Nutrition
- Tu cerebro tiene hambre – Boticaria García
- Activa tus mitocondrias – Antonio Valenzuela
- Ama lo que comes – Lucía Gómez
- Micro recetas – Laura Gómez López
- La ciencia de la microbiota – Cristina Sáez y fundación Alícia
List of recommended Sant Jordi books for students
If, on the other hand, you are clear about what type of book you want and are looking for the best books for students, here is a list of the best books for students, ideal for choosing the one that best suits you:
- La sangre del padre – Alfonso Goizueta (Novela contemporánea)
- Bajo tierra seca – César Pérez Gellida (Novela negra)
- El barracón de las mujeres de Fermina Cañaveras (Novela histórica)
- La ciudad y sus muros inciertos – Haruki Murakami (Novela literaria)
- Cumbre índigo – Devney Perry (Novela romántica y erótica)
- El estrecho sendero entre deseos – Patrick Rothfuss (Narrativa de fantasía)
- Detrás del ruido – Ángel Martín (Psicología y autoayuda)
- Tu proyecto más importante eres tú – Luna Javierre (Psicología y autoayuda)
- Los capullos regalan flores (Arte)
- El ABC del arte – Phaidon Press (Arte)
- Fahrenheit 451 – Víctor Santos (Cómic y Manga)
- No me cuentes cuentos – Sandra Sabatés (Ciencias humanas y sociales)
- De cero a uno – Peter Thiel (Empresarial)
- On fashion photography – Peter Lindbergh (Fotografía y moda)
- Coco Chanel. Vida, obra y legado de la mujer que revolucionó la moda – Pinolia (Moda)
Organisation of Barcelona for Sant Jordi 2024
For Sant Jordi 2024, the city of Barcelona is repeating the literary superblock model, which was a great success last year.
The main area will once again be Ciutat Vella along with the Ramblas to offer the biggest literary and flowery attraction with 94 stops. Passeig de Gràcia and Gran de Gràcia will also be filled with book and rose stalls.
The neighbourhood of Les Corts will have 9 stops and Sant Martí 8. Sant Andreu and Sarrìa will also have 6 and 4 stops. To celebrate one of the most beautiful days of the year Barcelona will host writers and authors of books to offer different activities such as book signings. David Walliams, a British writer and actor will become the author of the reading proclamation next Monday 22nd April at the Gabriel García Márquez Library.
The proclamation is the starting signal for the Sant Jordi festival and has been promoted by the city’s network of libraries since 2003. Here are some of the stops and times of the signings for this Sant Jordi 2024 in the city of Barcelona:
Altaïr library
- Passeig de Gràcia (stops 20-22-24-26)
- Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 616
La Casa del Libro
- Passeig de Gràcia (between Aragon street and Valencia street)
- Passeig de Gràcia (between Diputación street and Consell de Cent street)
- Passeig de Sant Joan (between Àusias Marc street and Casp street)
Fnac
- Fnac Triangle: Catalonia square, 4
- Fnac Illa Diagonal: Diagonal Avenue, 549
- Fnac Arenas: Gran Via, 373-385
- Fnac Glòries: Glòries Shopping Centre
Our residents of Unihabit Ciutat Vella and Unihabit Gràcia will be able to enjoy an incredible day in the city of Barcelona and the stops located very close to our university residences.
