Sant Jordi kicks off in Barcelona a day earlier with the traditional literary festival that La Vanguardia celebrates every year —for 13 years— at the Alma hotel. Renowned writers and personalities from the editorial, political, and business fields attend today the preamble to the festival to warm up for tomorrow’s day, when many of the invited authors will be signing in the city’s streets.
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The big novelty in the Catalan capital this year is the absence of stalls on La Rambla due to construction work, which has forced them to be moved to Plaça Catalunya, Portal de l’Àngel, and Plaça de la Catedral. But this year’s Sant Jordi 2025 will once again be massive, with 425 stalls (364 of which will be for books) and 61 for flowers, in addition to the stalls in front of bookstores and florists. The city of writers will also be, for one day, the city of readers, with a program that goes beyond books and roses and includes concerts, author signings, talks, exhibitions, and cultural visits.
A Sant Jordi without La Rambla
Barcelona will experience an atypical Sant Jordi due to the absence of stalls on La Rambla. The works on the avenue – expected to be completed before the 2027 Diada – have forced the relocation of book and rose stalls and the inauguration of a new axis that will run from Portal de l’Àngel, to Plaça Nova and Plaça de la Catedral up to Via Laietana. A provisional location “that could stay”, according to the president of the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya, Èric del Arco. In total, there will be 3.7 kilometers of stalls distributed across all districts. However, the bulk of them will be concentrated in the literary super-block , which is repeated for the fifth consecutive year, and which will also host most of the book signings (there will be 257 tables throughout the city). Thus, Passeig de Gràcia (between Avinguda Diagonal and Gran Via) will be filled with bookstore and florist stalls, as will Rambla de Catalunya and the adjacent streets of Diputació, Consell de Cent, Mallorca, Provença, Rosselló, Còrsega, and the section of Diagonal up to Balmes. Traffic will be cut off on these roads all day and they will become an exclusive space for pedestrians.
Expansion to all districts
The entire city will be transformed for Sant Jordi, with areas dedicated to books and roses in the city’s ten districts – 425 stalls, of which 364 are for books and 61 for flowers, plus 130 in front of establishments. In Ciutat Vella there will be 110, 243 in Eixample (in addition to the super-block , there will be in Plaça Catalunya, Plaça Universitat and Passeig de Sant Joan), 35 in Gràcia (in Gran de Gràcia –between Sèneca and Rambla Prat– and in Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia) and 14 in Les Corts (Avinguda Diagonal, between Joan Güell and Pau Romeva). There will also be in Sant Martí (Rambla del Poblenou, Plaça del Mercat and Plaça de Font i Sagué, Carrer del Cabanyal and Carrer de la Sèquia Comtal, as well as in front of the Gabriel García Márquez Library), in Sants (Jardins de la Rambla de Sants), in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (Plaça de Sarrià), in Horta-Guinardó (Plaça d’Eivissa), in Nou Barris (Via Júlia canopy and Plaça del Virrei Amat) and in Sant Andreu (Plaça d’Orfila and Plaça del Comerç and Carrer Segre).
Sant Jordi is left without La Rambla, but will grow with a new axis up to 364 book stalls and 61 rose stalls
This year, it is worth noting the growth of the sections on Passeig de Sant Joan and Passeig de Lluís Companys, dedicated to comics and children’s and young adult books.
The +Bernat bookstore and the publisher Libros de Vanguardia will set up their stall at number 477 on Avinguda Diagonal, where there will be signings by Xavi Ayén and Jose Enrique Ruiz-Domènec (12 h), Raquel Quelart and the members of La Contra, Ima Sanchís, Víctor Amela and Lluis Amiguet (17 h), and Anna Gener and Maricel Chavarría (18 h).
Talks, fairs and a mural
Beyond buying books and roses, the ways and options to celebrate the Diada are many and varied. Let’s go through them one by one. This afternoon, the reading proclamation will take place in the Saló de Cent of the City Council, this year led by British writer Ali Smith, and will also include a conversation with her Catalan translator, Dolors Udina (22/IV at 6 p.m., Smith will also converse with Eva Piquer on 24/IV at the Jaume Fuster library).
Ali Smith will give this year’s reading proclamation and several writers will participate in the ‘Diàlegs de Sant Jordi’ cycle
On Sant Jordi day, urban artist TV Boy – responsible for the graphic image of Barcelona’s posters this year – will create a live collective mural inspired by the legend (from 12 to 3 p.m., at the intersection of Ronda Sant Pere and Passeig de Gràcia). The Antic Teatre, celebrating its 23rd anniversary, organizes the Off Sant Jordi without the usual scattering of books on the terrace, but with an intense program of presentations and shows alongside the Calders bookstore. For its part, La Cañada, the Candaya publishing house and the Poble-Sec Merchants Association are promoting the V Meeting of Independent Publishers from April 19 to 23, with stalls and signings by authors such as Isabel Llanos, Natza Farré, Montse Virgili or Hugo Clemente, as well as musical performances, performative readings, discussions, literary walks and gastronomy.
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The Photographic Social Vision foundation will organize the fourth edition of its photobook fair, Casa Àsia will bring together works and authors of Asian origin, and Plaça de Sant Just will host the XVII Festival of Artist’s Books and Small Editions. Meanwhile, at Casa Seat (now, Casa Cupra Raval) they organize their own program with signings (Xavi Ayén, Miquel Valls, Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, Sergi Ambudio, Maricel Chvarría, Hugo Clemente, Laia Viñas…), a book club with Juliana Canet or Charlie Pee’s stand-up.
Finally, the coincidence with the BCN Film Fest, the Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival (until 24/IV), expands the cultural offer with screenings and activities related to the seventh art.
Literary-musical events
Along with roses and books, music is another essential part of Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Four years ago, Mishima established a tradition with La Nit de les Roses at La Paloma, which will take place tonight. This time, the musical and poetic preamble will feature relevant voices from Catalan literature: Eva Baltasar, Pol Guasch, Carlota Gurt, and Biel Mesquida. Also on the 22nd, the Palau de la Música will celebrate Sant Jordi with a performance of La Traviata, by NovAria. For the occasion, the Palau will give a rose to spectators attending the performance.
Mishima will celebrate ‘La Nit de les Roses’ at La Paloma, and Buhos, La Pegatina or Macaco will be at Antiga Damm
And the Antiga Fàbrica Estrella Damm will once again become the musical epicenter of Sant Jordi day. For nine uninterrupted hours, a total of 20 concerts will be held, featuring great artists such as Buhos, who celebrate 20 years of their career this 2026, La Pegatina, the urban pop of 31 Fam, Els Amics de les Arts, Maria Jaume, Lildami, El Pony Pisador or Macaco, who will share the stage with new voices such as Triquell, Griso, Juls, Eva Fort or Naina. In addition to the concerts, throughout the day there will be album signings by participating musicians and other guest artists such as La Fúmiga, Paula Mattheus or Dorian. Gastronomy closes the program with options for all tastes.
The city opens its doors
As is customary, some emblematic buildings and spaces in the city will open their doors for the Diada on the 23rd. Thus, institutions such as the Barcelona City Council, which also programs a children’s Chinese shadow puppet show about the legend of Sant Jordi; the Palau de la Generalitat, or the Diputació de Barcelona, can be visited. Emblematic buildings such as the Sant Pau Modernist Enclosure, Palau Güell, the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, and the Sagrada Família (free for Jordis and Jordines and one companion). Literary spaces such as the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, and l’Ateneu Barcelonès. Museums such as the Museu d’Història de Catalunya, the Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya, and the Can Framis museum of the Fundació Vila Casas. And other places such as the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, the Mirador de Colón, and the Fundació Photographic Social Vision. Also, the Mirador Torre Glòries will offer 2-for-1 tickets to Jordis and Jordinas (and their variants) from April 18 to 26.
And, despite not holding open doors, one of the buildings that will once again capture all eyes will be Casa Batlló, which will once again cover Gaudí’s architecture with roses.
