Catalan Book Week draws more than 130,000 visitors and nearly €1 million in sales

La Setmana del Llibre en Català – Catalan Book Week – closed its 44th edition on Sunday with more than 130,000 visitors, around 8,000 more than last year, while turnover is expected to approach €1 million, up 12% on 2025.

The figures were provided by the organisers, who are still finalising this year's results.

The event brought 10 days of literature, publishing and Catalan-language culture to Barcelona.

Organisers hailed the success of this year's edition at Passeig Lluís Companys, saying the strong turnout, together with higher sales, reflected a "rich, diverse, vibrant and attractive publishing sector."

Held from September 18 to 27, La Setmana del Llibre en Català featured 332 exhibitors across 98 stalls at the Arc de Triomf in Barcelona.

A total of 282 publishing houses from Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia and Andorra took part.

Oriol Magrinyà, president of Editors.cat, the organisation behind the fair, gave a positive assessment of this year's edition.

He expects turnover to finish 12% higher than last year, at close to €1 million.

Speaking to the Catalan News Agency (ACN), he said the figures confirmed that La Setmana del Llibre en Català had established itself as "the great showcase for books in Catalan."

Magrinyà said the visitor profile had been "very diverse" in terms of age, where people came from and their native language.

The organisers also noticed people who were approaching books in Catalan "for the first time."

The fair is now the publishing sector's third-biggest sales period of the year, after Sant Jordi and Christmas, Magrinyà said.