At 1965, at the request of the Catalan publishers, UNESCO decided that the 23 of April should become the World Book Day; A day that is celebrated in Spain, and especially in Catalonia, with the gift of a book and / or a rose to the people that one appreciates the most. This gesture, so typical of a Valentine's Day, has its origin precisely in the figure of Sant Jordi, patron saint of lovers For the Catalans, that the knight saves his princess from the clutches of the dragon. Hence the tradition of giving a rose, specifically the Lovers' Fair that was organized in Barcelona during the fifteenth century.
It was at 1459 when Catalan Cortes, Gathered in the Cathedral of the City of Barcelona, confirmed that the day of the festival series. But it was at the end of the 19th century when in the Plaza Sant Jaime of the Catalan capital, in addition to the fair of roses, was mounted more than toys and old books. However, it was necessary to wait for the 7 of October of 1926, so that the celebration of the Day of the Book in Commemoration of the birth of Miguel de Cervantes, At the request of the writer and publisher Valencian Vicente Clavel Andrés. The 6 of February of that year, the Spanish government presided over by Miguel Primo de Rivera accepted it and the king Alfonso XIII signed the Royal Decree that instituted the celebration of the Spanish Book. But seeing that date overlapped with the beginning of the school year, in 1930 moved to 23 in April, the day of Cervantes' death, and curiously also of Shakespeare. It is true that the party was declared official for all Spain, but only prospered in Catalonia. This was how the flowers and books melted into a single festive day.
Since then, the festival has been exported all over the world, boasting in countries like England and Japan and, only in year 2000, it was calculated that day had 730.000 points of sale spread around the world and nothing can stop this sentimental and also, of course, business phenomenon. The publishing sector knows that, throughout that day and according to the weather, it can be billed between 10 and 20% of sales throughout the year. In the edition of the 2006 year, the number of 20 million euros was exceeded for the first time. There is no book fair in all Spain, for many days that lasts, that reaches, by no means, this amount.
Anyway, giving a book is more than a gift of love. Although it may seem that it falls into the consumerist trap of a rancid custom that was imposed by publishers at the beginning of the century, at least the rose and the book do not release so much commercialized department store strategy, as in the case of Valentine's Day, because in this Sant Jordi gesture triumphs again, one more year, to the dragon of the lack of culture. And besides, it's not just a gift: it's a book. And a book is more than a book. It is addressed to all people from 0 to 100 years and in it fits all the greatness and the human misery and in it, be it with letters of blood or with words of cotton, there has been everything that has made the human species progress, thanks to science and creation.
