April 23, Dia de Sant Jordi — the traditional festival dedicated to books and roses — accounts for 5–8% of annual book sales in Catalonia.

BARCELONA: In the early morning hours of the Dia de Sant Jordi, the Catalan festival dedicated to books and roses, hundreds of book and flower stalls are set up around the capital city of Barcelona, with a particular concentration on the Passeig de Gracia and the Rambla de Catalunya.

Each year on April 23rd Catalans pay homage to worldwide literature in cities and villages region-wide. Sant Jordi, or St. George, the patron saint of Catalunya was celebrated in the Middle Ages with lovers giving each other roses. In 1926, a Barcelona writer and editor, realizing that the date of Cervantes and Shakespeare’s deaths coincided with Sant Jordi’s, decided to launch the idea of giving books as well as roses to loved ones. The concept became so successful and enduring that 70 years later, inspired by the Catalan tradition, UNESCO declared April 23rd to be World Book and Copyright Day.

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