Publishing houses add another year of growth, on a roll since the pandemic, when many at home found enough time to spend reading and could not invent excuses to get distracted. So much so that in 2021 the book sector closed its best year in the last ten years, results that, despite the difficulties, have been moderating but have continued to increase year after year.
This 2023, the publishing sector expects to close with a growth in Spain of 3.5% compared to the previous year, when the turnover stood at more than 2,720 million euros. Of this national turnover, Catalan publishing houses account for 53%, with more than 1,440 million euros. "The book sector is in good health. In addition, we have overcome two crises in the last four years: the pandemic and the rise in costs, of around 40% and only passing on a small part to the price, with an increase of between 4% and 5%," explains the president of the Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya, Patrici Tixis.
Book sales in Catalonia stand at around 500 million euros. 30% of the titles correspond to books written in Catalan. This figure, not including textbooks, has registered an increase of 12% compared to last year, when sales were between 120 and 130 million euros, a growth that had already occurred in books in Spanish and has taken a little longer to reach Catalan. "It's splendid news," Tixis values.
The significant growth that has occurred in books in Catalan responds to different factors, such as the exceptional Sant Jordi of this 2023, a celebration that concentrates 40% of the sector's annual turnover; the boom of comics in Catalan, and the increasingly strong Setmana del Llibre en Català. The normalization of the delays that occurred in distribution last year with the merger of Àgora and Les Punxes into Entredos Logístics has also influenced.
The expected growths for both Spain as a whole and for books in Catalan are awaiting the impact of the Christmas campaign, the second strong date for the sector after Sant Jordi, taking 30% of annual sales. "We hope that this Christmas campaign will be very good," Tixis emphasizes.
Nit de l'Edició
The Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya celebrates this Monday the Nit de l'Edició, the annual meeting of the sector in which seals celebrating their centenary are honored, this year, Bernat Metge and Editorial Joventut, but also for the younger ones, with 25 years, such as Editorial Corimbo, MTM Editores and Símbolo Editores. In addition, the ceremony serves to present the Fernando Lara Memorial to a young business initiative in the world of books, which this 2023 goes to L'Altra Editorial, headed by Eugènia Broggi.
The Atlántida Award is also presented to a personality or entity that stands out for the promotion of books and reading. This year it has gone to the municipalities of Urueña (Valladolid) and Calonge for their commitment to becoming towns dedicated to books. In the case of Urueña, it is a small town in Empty Spain where barely a hundred residents live, but since 2005 it has been filling with bookstores to culturally revitalize itself and attract visitors, following the model carried out in other countries such as the United Kingdom and France.
With a total of nine bookstores, each dedicated to a specific theme, such as traditions, calligraphy, travel or cinema, Urueña served as a model for Calonge, an inland Catalan town that wanted to extend a tourist season that is concentrated in summer and more in its neighbor, Sant Antoni de Calonge. "There were people who spent their summers in Sant Antoni who had never gone up to Calonge," says its mayor, Jordi Soler.
To reverse this and reactivate an old core that was fading, it became a book town two years ago. After receiving 200 applications, seven bookstores were opened on a route that extends between two streets and the main square of Calonge. Two were generalists ---Libelista and Rals Llibres--- and the rest specialized in topics such as travel, children's literature, the oriental world, esotericism or comics. Neither the children's nor the esoteric one have survived. The latter has changed its focus and now concentrates on cinema and wine. A gastronomy one has also opened. Last year the first Catalan booktown sold 35,000 books. Now, the Calonge City Council is preparing a new stage with the opening of three more bookstores, among which it is hoped to recover a children's one.