Reus experiences this April 23 a new Sant Jordi's Day with the Plaça del Mercadal as the main meeting point and with a wide presence of bookstores and flower shops in the city center. In total, 102 stalls have been set up, among them nine flower shops and nine bookstores, on a day marked by the influx of public and the commercial weight of this date for the sector.
El Mercadal concentrates the activity of the day
The celebration takes place with Mercadal as the epicenter of the book and rose festival. The stalls occupy the central space of the square and reinforce the usual image of Sant Jordi in the capital of Baix Camp, where the event maintains its convening power year after year.
From the bookselling sector, Sergi Garcia, from La Galatea bookstore, summarizes the evolution of the day with a perception of sustained growth.
"Each year we have a little more, it is gaining ground" - Sergi Garcia, bookstore La Galatea
Also Montsant Fonts, co-owner of the Gaudí bookstore, highlights the economic relevance of this date for the book businesses. She explains that Sant Jordi represents between 10% and 15% of annual sales and notes that the public's response in Reus remains outside the calendar.
"However it falls, here in Reus it always works" - Montsant Fonts, Gaudí bookstore
The red roses return to be the majority
In the field of flower shops, the red rose once again concentrates the majority of the demand. Isuar Dosaigües, from the Romy flower shop, points out that 95% of the roses sold are red, a trend that is repeated on one of the strongest dates of the commercial calendar for the sector.
"It is the most important day of the year, the one that invoices the most" - Isuar Dosaigües, Romy flower shop
The sale of flower and book thus marks again a day of high intensity in the center of Reus, with a constant flow of buyers and visitors around the stalls installed in the heart of the city.
Authors and featured titles on the day
Among the books that are having more sales are 'The good taste' by Xavier Grasset, 'The second life of Ginebra Vern' by Agnès Marquès and 'The city of dead lights' by David Uclés. The program also includes presentations and signings in the Plaça del Mercadal.
The author Pilar Subietas presents her story 'La Pilar a la recerca del coc màgic', in a day that she lives from a different perspective than in other years.
"I am very excited, because one thing is to experience it from the square and the other as an author. Both are very beautiful" - Pilar Subietas, author
Also Olga Vázquez participates in the Diada with the presentation of her first novel, 'Three letters with blue envelope', in a literary debut that she has defined as a particularly awaited moment.
"It is a dream come true, it is indescribable" - Olga Vázquez, author
The day thus maintains in Reus its double cultural and commercial aspect, with the Mercadal as the central stage of a celebration fully consolidated in the city and with capacity to gather in the same space readers, authors, florists and booksellers.