The publisher added another year of growth, its most consecutive record growth since the pandemic, when many people at home had enough time to read and couldn’t find excuses to distract themselves. So much so that in 2021 the sector closed its best year in the last ten years, despite the difficulties, the results obtained were not very large but continued to increase from year to year.

In 2023, the publishing sector is expected to close with growth in Spain of 3.5% compared to the previous year, when turnover reached more than 2,720 million euros. Of this turnover at state level, Catalan publishing labels hold 53%, with more than 1,440 million euros. “The book sector is in healthy condition. “In addition, we have overcome two crises in the last four years: the pandemic and the increase in costs, around 40% and only transferred a small part to prices, with an increase of between 4% and 5%,” he explained. .president of Gremi d’Editor Catalonia, Patrici Tixis.

Book sales in Catalonia amount to around 500 million euros. 30% of the titles correspond to books written in Catalan. This figure, excluding textbooks, has registered an increase of 12% compared to last year, when sales hovered between 120 and 130 million euros, a growth that has occurred in Spanish books and that takes time. . “This is great news,” Tixis said.

The significant growth that occurs in books in Catalan is due to various factors, such as the extraordinary Sant Jordi in 2023, a celebration that accounts for 40% of the sector’s annual turnover; He explosion comics in Catalan, and the increasingly strong Setmana del Llibre in Català. The normalization of distribution delays that occurred last year with the merger of Àgora and Les Punxes into Entredos Logístics also had an impact.

Growth forecasts for Spain as a whole and books in Catalan await the impact of the Christmas campaign, the second strong date for the sector after Sant Jordi, which takes 30% of annual sales. “We hope this Christmas campaign is very good,” said Tixis.

Evening Edition

Gremi d’Editors de Catalunya celebrates the Nit de l’Edició this Monday, the annual meeting of the sector in honor of the stamp celebrating its centenary, this year, Bernat Metge and Editorial Joventut, but also for the younger ones, 25 years old, such as Corimbo Editorial, MTM Editores and Símbolo Editores. In addition, the ceremony served to dedicate the Fernando Lara Memorial to the initiative of young businesses in the world of books, which in 2023 fell into the hands of L’Altra Editorial led by Eugènia Broggi.

The Atlántida Prize is also awarded to figures or entities that stand out in the promotion of books and reading. This year the city fell to the municipal governments of Urueña (Valladolid) and Calonge for their commitment to becoming a city dedicated to books. In the case of Urueña, it is a small town in Empty Spain inhabited by barely a hundred inhabitants, but since 2005 the town has been filled with bookstores so that it has become culturally dynamic and attracts visitors, following the model done in other countries such as the United States. English and French.

With a total of nine bookstores, each dedicated to a specific topic, such as tradition, calligraphy, travel or cinema, Urueña is a model for Calonge, an inland Catalan town looking to extend the tourist season concentrated in summer and more in its neighbor, Sant Antoni de Calonge. “There are people who spend their summers in Sant Antoni but have never been to Calonge,” says its mayor, Jordi Soler.

To turn it around and reactivate its old, fading core, the city became a book city two years ago. After receiving 200 applications, seven bookshops opened in the lane that runs between the two streets and Calonge’s main square. Two are generalists—Libelista and Rals Llibres—and the rest specialize in topics such as travel, children’s literature, the oriental world, esotericism, or comics. Neither the childish nor the esoteric survive. The latter has changed its focus and now focuses on cinema and wine. He also opened a gastronomy. Last year was the first book city Catalan sold 35,000 books. Now, the Calonge City Government is preparing a new stage with the opening of three more bookstores, one of which is expected to restore children’s bookstores.