Publishers and booksellers denounce an unfair distribution of public spaces

multiple small publishers and locals in Catalonia have shown their discontent with the latest decision by the Barcelona City Council that the Guild of Booksellers of Catalonia assume the distribution of public spaces for the Diada de Sant Jordi in the capital.

Thus, in a statement they affirm that small entities, which do not have the same projection or resources as large companies, need to achieve the public spaces -under the management of the City Council, and not the guild- to place its stalls on Book Day.

Until 2020 the modus operandi had been that, but this year the City Council has decided to leave it in the hands of the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya, a guild included in the Cambra del Llibre, but of which many publishers -especially small ones- do not form part.

In other years, the allocation of stops took into account the number of previous editions in which they had participated and for the majority, getting a good seat made the difference in the special Diada de Sant Jordi.

Thus, getting an award in old city -Plaça Reial, Rambles, Passeig de Lluís Companys-, in the Eixample -Passeig de Gràcia, Plaça Universitat and Passeig de Sant Joan-, in Funny -in the Plaça de la Vila-, Les Cortes -Plaça de Valdívia or the Illa Diagonal area-, Poble Nou, Sant Andreu either Sarria; it meant a before and after in the year of turnover and reputation of small publishers.

Therefore, what they denounce is that the large publishers that are part of the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya are precisely the ones that have historically had the most traffic in the dyad, and that getting a good location does not affect them so directly.

In the statement, the publishers affirm that the City Council has decided place responsibility in private hands to decide who has permission to set up a stop, under what conditions and in what spaces. And, that “a City Council that champions the municipalization of public services decides outsource one that had never been It is a contradictory fact”, they denounce.

Their discontent is also motivated by lack of justification and transparency: “At no time has the reason behind the decision been publicly communicated and the process has been hidden, since the entities that set up the stops every Sant Jordi have not received any information about this change in management.”

But, what they denounce is also the little communication about requests to ask for a location: “The entities that sign this statement have not had access to this request and we have discovered, through non-public sources, that the deadline to present it was March 4. We have also managed to find out that these established criteria they were favorable to publishers that were unionizedtherefore the small ones stayed “out”.

When the City Council was aware of the situation, it opened two new procedures, one to request a book stop in different free spaces and another to have a stop on La Rambla. But, as they say in the statement, they have had no response from the latter.

Thus, these entities denounce the privatization in the management of a public space, and consider that normality has only returned for private entities, as they claim.

Also, they have asked explanations to Barcelona City Council and more details about the agreement with the Cambra del Llibre. They have also asked that more equality be guaranteed in participation for this Sant Jordi regardless of whether they are in a guild or not and, in any case, that such a situation never be repeated.

The statement has been signed by the following publishers: Descontrol Editorial, Apostroph Edicions, Llibreria Aldarull, Bauma Tallers Gràfics. Edicions Forment, Fundació Salvador Seguí, Editorial Tercero includo, Pol len Edicions, Ona Ediciones, Escola Arcàdia, Raval Cultural Association – El Lokal, El Grill Llibertari, Llibreria Saturnàlia and Endavant (OSAN) Barcelonès.