World Book Day is celebrated around the world on the 23rd April each year.
In Catalonia, World Book Day coincides with the Festival of Sant Jordi (Saint George), the heroic soldier and knight who fought the dragon that lived in a lake and had a whole city terrified. The event attracts large crowds and is even more colourful in Barcelona, particularly on La Rambla. The famous boulevard is packed with stalls selling books and flowers from the early hours of the morning. People flock to La Rambla to take a stroll and fulfil the tradition, men give the ladies a rose and the ladies give the men a book . It also give readers a unique opportunity to meet their favourite authors at open air book signings.
Barcelona has always inspired and welcomed writers from around the world, who have immortalised it in their pages. Now you can tour the city by following the settings of certain books written by internationally renowned authors. One of the most popular and interesting of these is the George Orwell route, which follows the footsteps of this famous author on La Rambla and surrounding streets. Famous as the author of 1984 and Animal Farm, this English writer also wrote Homage to Catalonia, in which he describes his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The route begins at Placa Catalunya, where the Communist Party had its headquarters in Hotel Colon. From there, walk down La Rambla to the Hotel Continental, where Orwell stayed and onto Hotel Rivoli, then the headquarters of the Workers Park of Marxist Unification. Further on you will find the Placa George Orwell.
World Book Day in Barcelona and the Festival of Sant Jordi is a fantastic experience for book lovers and historians to experience the culture of this beautiful city.