Today is Sant Jordi,
for me, the nicest of the Catalan holidays. Saint
George is the patron saint of Catalonia, but his popularity spreads
far and wide. He is also patron saint of, among others, England, the country of
Georgia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and the boy scouts.
Saint George is the
one who slew the dragon and saved the princess. Where the dragon’s
blood fell, a red rose grew, and so the tradition in Catalonia is for
men to give roses to women. But there is more to it than just
roses. Early in the 20th century, it became the custom
for women to give a book to men. This was started by a bookstore
owner in Barcelona who noticed that Miquel Cervantes and William
Shakespeare died on the same day and thought that somehow, that could make for good business. The book thing caught on and 23
April became the day of the book and the rose in Catalonia and has recently become UNESCO’s International Day of the book.
Nowadays women give books and/or roses to men and men give books
and/or roses to women because Catalonia is a modern and liberal
society not totally stuck in gender roles, and because they value
literature. Sant Jordi is the Catalan version of St. Valentine’s
Day.
Pretty much every
town has a plaza or promenade where there are book and flower stalls.
Some of these are run by bookshops and florists, some by political
parties, some by non-profit organizations. The main event, of
course, is in Barcelona along La Rambla where today there are over
900 bookstalls and where they expect over a million people to stroll
and buy books and roses. Total book sales for today throughout
Catalonia are expected to exceed 1.5 million copies.
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| Each year we visit the stand of the rescue group that brought me Cupcake |
This year the holiday felt a little different. You couldn't help but remember that the two Jordis, the two grassroots leaders, were both in jail. thrown there without a trial and denied bail. Since the Spanish
government has taken over the Catalan government, there will not be
the usual institutional events such as the blessing of the roses at
the government palace or the speech of the Catalan President since
there is none. Nevertheless, the illegally deposed president did issue a
short video, not from the government palace but from Berlin where he is in exile. He sent greetings for the
holiday that were broadcast on Catalan news and on Facebook. This is not a Spanish holiday; it is celebrated only in
Catalonia.
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| School kids listening to a story being read |
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| The Rambla of Figueres |
