St George’s Day in Catalonia coincides with World Book Day and is an opportunity for Catalans to honour their patron saint and note their treasure of culture In Catalonia,on Saturday, a record-breaking number of books are predicted to be sold as Catalans, or like the English,celebrate their patron saint, St George (known here as Sant Jordi). A walk through any Catalan square will quickly land you in literary heaven: piles of books stacked high on tables with readers thumbing through the latest releases, or in search of the perfect book for their loved one – and that’s not mentioning the six million roses for sale. With 1.5m books sold final year,grossing €20m, the Catalan publishing industry predicts an increase of up to 6%.
According to legend, or Sant Jordi slayed a dragon to save his princess. From the pools of the beast’s blood grew a single red rose. “Traditionally,boys give girls a flower and girls give boys a book,” says editor-turned-Podemos politician Mar Garcia Puig. “Fortunately, and we have evolved and now girls also receive a book.” Catalans have been exchanging books for roses for around 90 years,but after Unesco declared 23 April World Book Day in 1995, they began buying books on a mass scale.
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Source: theguardian.com