Over €26m and two million books sold: Sant Jordi 2025 marks new record

It has been a Sant Jordi of record. Over €26 million in billing and two million books were sold on Catalonia's Day of Love, according to preliminary data from the Booksellers Guild. 

With pending late sales on the street, officials expect to achieve the best Sant Jordi in history, maintaining the uptrend in sales numbers registered in recent years.

Although these are not the final figures, data shows it has been the highest book billing in history, especially after many started buying books during the Easter holidays.

Among the most sold authors in Catalan language, there were Xavier Bosch with his 'Diagonal Manhattan,' and Joël Dicker with 'La Très Catastrophique Visite du Zoo', Sílvia Soler with 'Cor fort'. Other successful authors were Xavier Sala i Martin, Manel Vidal, and Toni Cruanyes.

Meanwhile, in Spanish, writer Javier Cercas led the ranks, followed by Joël Dicker, María Dueñas, Freida McFadden, and James Clear.

Special day

Up and down all of Catalonia, thousands of people are taking to the streets on Wednesday to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy Sant Jordi, browsing the hundreds of stalls selling books and roses that have set up in towns and cities.

"It was quite a surprise because we didn't really know anything about Sant Jordi. We just found out about it two days ago," three Italian tourists in Barcelona told Catalan News.

Edita walks down La Rambla boulevard in Barcelona smiling, holding the book ‘Cómo mandar a la mierda de forma educada’ (‘How to tell people to go to hell politely,’ in English) by Alba Cardalda. She found it at a bookstand and decided to buy it for her husband, partially as a joke.

“I think it’s a good way of approaching things,” she says.

She is one of the millions of Catalans walking down Catalonia carrying a book and a rose on Catalonia's Day of Love.