€27 million of books sold in new Sant Jordi record

The Book Chamber of Catalonia, the body that brings together the various guilds and associations of publishers, booksellers, distributors in Catalonia, has revealed that provisional data show that book sales for Sant Jordi were worth around €27 million.

From early in the morning and throughout the day, streets were filled with people. The day falling midweek helped boost sales figures too, the Book Chamber pointed out, while the overall agreeable weather invited people out to stroll the streets, despite episodes of wind and pollen in parts of the territory. 

The estimated €27 million in sales would surpass last year's €26.1 million. In addition, this year's Sant Jordi was once again preceded by a good week of sales in which many people made their purchase in advance.

The huge participation has been translated into an increase in the number of stalls selling books and roses. In Barcelona, there were around 500 street stalls selling books, while the total space occupied by these vendors was 3,700 metres. Both Lleida and Tarragona also saw their number of stalls increased too.

What is Catalonia reading? 

The provisional ranking of best-selling books has crowned Regina Rodríguez Sirvent, Gil Pratsobrerroca, Òscar Andreu and Francesc Torralba as the best sellers in Catalan, and Eduardo Mendoza, Fernando Aramburu, Ana Garriga and Paz Padilla, in Spanish.

In Catalan fiction, Regina Rodríguez Sirvent's 'Crispetes de matinada' was one of the biggest sellers, as well as the phenomenon of 'El joc del silenci' by Gil Pratsobrerroca, and 'Passeig de Gràcia' by Roger Bastida.

In non-fiction, early sales figures placed 'Manual de defensa del català' by Òscar Andreu top, followed by this year's Pla Prize, 'Anatomia de l'esperança', by Francesc Torralba, and 'On neix la llum', by Oriol Mitjà.

As for fiction in Spanish, Eduardo Mendoza tops the list with his latest novel, 'La intriga del funeral inconveniente', followed by 'Maite' by Fernando Aramburu, and 'Comerás flores' by Lucía Solla Sobral.

'Instrucción de novicias' by Ana Garriga, and 'Alzar el duelo' by Paz Padilla are the best sellers in Spanish non-fiction.