Sant Jordi 2025: Catalonia celebrates most romantic day of the year

One of the most important days of the year for many Catalans has finally arrived! On Wednesday, thousands upon thousands of people take to the streets all across the territory to celebrate Sant Jordi, Catalonia’s Day of Love.

The day is known for turning the streets red with roses, love, and literature, and this year is expected to be no different.

In Barcelona alone, 500 stalls with books and roses will fill the streets, marking a record-breaking edition of the Catalan version of Valentine’s Day.

At many stands, international authors will sign their books for fans, as well as other Catalan and Spanish writers, celebrities, or sports players. 

In the weeks leading up to the celebration, some of the most sold books in book stores across the territory include ‘La Très Catastrophique Visite du Zoo’, by Swiss novelist Joël Dicker and Catalan Zavier Bosch’ ‘Diagonal Manhattan’. 

As the day is also about gifting roses, florists expect to sell over seven million roses, exceeding €20 million, outdoing last year’s sales figures, according to the Florists’ Guild of Catalonia.

70% to 80% of all roses on sale this year come from Ecuador and Colombia, while the rest are sourced from the Netherlands.

Dozens of writers and publishers attended the traditional breakfast hosted by the Barcelona City Council on Wednesday morning in the courtyard of the Palau de la Virreina.

Around 200 people from the cultural and political worlds kicked off the day in an event chaired by the mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, the journalist and screenwriter Anna Guitart, and this year's Sant Jordi speaker, Cristina Rivera Garza.

Writers such as Carlota Gurt and Gina Rodríguez met colleagues and over snacks and coffee ahead of a long day meeting fans and signing books. Also present were various personalities who have recently published books such as journalists Santi Tarín, Mayka Navarro, Pedro Piqueras and Sílvia Intxaorrondo, historian Borja de Riquer, lawyer and politician Jaume Asens, judge Joaquim Bosch, scientist Salvador Macip, and activist Toni Acosta.

Sant Jordi Superblock

Although the day will be celebrated all around Catalonia, the capital’s Eixample district has once again become the city’s main attraction, with over 200 book stalls. They are all centered around the Sant Jordi Superblock around Passeig de Gràcia, between Diagonal and Gran Via, and Carrer de Balmes and Pau Claris.

The Booksellers Guild of Catalonia expects an "explosion" of people on the streets across the territory for the day, accompanied by the good weather.

Èric del Arco, president of the organization, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that he doesn't expect the sales record to be met, as this year Sant Jordi falls just days after the Easter holidays, but despite that, the feeling is one of "a lot of excitement."

In the district, the Casa Battló, one of the famous modernist buildings by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, has been decorated with roses, as it does each year, once again attracting thousands for the perfect love-themed photo-op.  

Elsewhere in the district, another iconic piece of Gaudí architecture, the basilica Sagrada Família, is celebrating Sant Jordi with a large audiovisual art installation, created by AI is called ‘Llum Primigènia’, and tells the legend of Sant Jordi.

Those named Jordi, Jordina, Jorge, Jorginas, or another version of those names in any language can visit the iconic building for free.

What is the legend of Sant Jordi?

The day is named after the territory’s patron saint. According to legend, the knight Jordi saved a princess by killing an evil dragon that was terrorizing the small Catalan town of Montblanc.

From the dragon’s blood, a lush red rose bush grew, and the knight picked the most beautiful bloom to give to the princess.

Nowadays, the dragon is much friendlier, often appearing as a teddy bear or a piece of chocolate, but the tradition of giving roses remains strong in Catalonia.

World Book Day’s Catalan roots

April 23 is UNESCO World Book Day, a celebration which has strong roots in Catalonia’s Sant Jordi tradition. 

Sant Jordi was named the patron saint of Catalonia in the 15th century, when there was already an established tradition of gifting roses, but the arrival of books into the equation is a more recent thing. 

In the 1920s, the Book Chamber of Barcelona decided to hold a fair to promote the sale of books, and so the first ‘Spanish Book Festival’ was held on October 7, 1926.

During the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, booksellers started the trend of setting up stalls on the street, a feature that was kept after huge success. The next year, the date to celebrate books was changed to April 23.

From its earliest editions, the festival offered a huge boost to Catalan publishers, a feature that remains true to this day. In 2024, Catalans spent over €25 million on books in the buildup to and on the day of Sant Jordi, and bookshops normally reap around 8-10% of their annual revenue during this week. The bookselling initiative was so popular from the very beginning that it didn’t stop even through the Civil War. 

As the decades went on, the tradition of April 23 being a day for books grew from strength to strength until UNESCO decided to share it with the world in 1995, declaring it World Book Day.

However, three years later, the UK decided to move its World Book Day to the first Thursday in March, to avoid clashing with Easter holidays and the celebration of the patron saint of England, Saint George. 

Podcast

Learn more about Sant Jordi in a special Filling the Sink episode recorded last year: Books, roses and legends - Celebrating Sant Jordi in Catalonia.