The Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) is one of the world's great temples of books, an essential event for the cultural industry in the Spanish language and one of the most relevant cultural events in Latin America. Surpassed only by Frankfurt in business volume, FIL combines professional dimension and public projection like no other fair. Its strength is demonstrated by the 750 participating authors, 2,000 publishing houses, and more than 3,000 activities that fill nine days of literary effervescence. The 2024 edition, with more than 900,000 visitors, confirmed a growing interest that the city of Barcelona is prepared to take advantage of.
The Catalan capital is the guest city not by chance. Barcelona's prominence at FIL is part of a process in which the city has consolidated itself as an authentic city of literature, with four key ingredients: the promotion of reading, support for the literary sector, the dissemination of literary heritage, and international projection.
In this combination of these four elements, an ecosystem where libraries, bookstores, publishers, and authors work in a coordinated manner to promote reading is crucial. Here, Barcelona Libraries plays a central role, with reading promotion programs aimed at diverse audiences and constant collaboration with the publishing sector. Its 2030 Master Plan articulates four areas of action, among which the one that vindicates the right to reading, writing, and oral expression as a democratic pillar stands out.
This impulse is complemented by the work of Barcelona City of Literature, which maintains the promotion of reading as its backbone. The city fosters meeting spaces between authors and readers and generates a cultural climate that continues throughout the year. The objective is to make literature an everyday element, with programs that escape the temporality of large festivals and connect with the life of neighborhoods and all generations of readers.
Ten years as a City of Literature
The invitation to FIL coincides with the commemoration of Barcelona's ten years within the network of UNESCO Cities of Literature,a recognition that has driven a constant effervescence of activities. The city hosts benchmark festivals such as BCNegra, Barcelona Poesía, Festival 42, Món Llibre, Kosmopolis, or Liternatura, which place Barcelona on the international map. Added to this is a stable program that originates from libraries, bookstores, writing schools, and writers' associations.The Barcelona City of Literature Office is responsible for energizing this activity. Within this framework, the city has developed programs that revalue its literary heritage, such as the literary plaques that dot the streets or the Literary Map, which will present its 2025 edition precisely in Guadalajara. These tools place literature in the public space and connect it with citizens and visitors.
In addition to promoting reading, Barcelona City of Literature also promotes literary creation, with grants and aid lines for writers. The Barcelona Crea grants —Montserrat Roig, Carme Montoriol, and those dedicated to translation— offer real opportunities to boost literary projects. In parallel, subsidies to bookstores and agreements with events such as La Setmana del Llibre en Català or Sant Jordi contribute to the continuity of a robust cultural fabric.
Barcelona, city of books
In parallel, Barcelona is also a city of books, having been the protagonist of stories and novels that take the city as their setting. On this path is alsoBarcelona Llibres, the municipal publisher with a public vocation. Its catalog reflects the cultural diversity of the city and explores its identity with a critical and open perspective. This task strengthens the relationship between citizens and literature, facilitating access to works that explain the city from multiple angles and contribute to the construction of a shared narrative.The Barcelona City Council complements this impulse with decisive support for the publishing sector and the world of books. The guilds of publishers and booksellers lead this path, with consolidated events such as La Setmana del Llibre en Català, Artslibris, Literal, or the Old and Modern Occasion Book Fair. These initiatives strengthen the literary ecosystem and ensure that Barcelona continues to be an indispensable meeting point for professionals and readers.
From FIL to the world
International projection is another pillar that explains Barcelona's presence as a guest city at FIL. The city participates in literary fairs around the world, hosts international meetings, and promotes programs that reinforce its image aseditorial capital. Its membership in the UNESCO network of literary cities plays a key role, facilitating joint actions and shared initiatives.Barcelona's commitment to culture is not limited to literature, but embraces all disciplines that also have a place at the FIL. In cinema, the Barcelona Film Commission facilitates filming and audiovisual projects; in music, festivals such as BAM, Música Mercè or Grec shape a rich and diverse panorama. The performing arts find creation spaces at Fabra i Coats and in the Creation Factories, while thought is expressed in the Biennial and in the programming of Libraries and municipal museums. All this shows that Barcelona presents itself in Guadalajara not only as a literary city, but as a multifaceted and transversal cultural capital.
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