It was 1994, two years had passed since the Olympics and the cleanup of Barcelona’s image. The city, finally, had international projection and was perceived as a modern, open place with many possibilities. According to Connie Dagas and Helle Bruun, they took advantage of the context to found Partners in crime (Cervantes, 4), the first ‘queer’ bookstore in Barcelona Y the second in Spain.
For the first time in Barcelona, a place filled its shelves with gay, lesbian and trans-themed books. Those stories that, until then, were relegated to anecdotal volumes or to small sections hidden in the most ‘mainstream’ book stores. The beginning was hard, and due to the lack of citizen support and the scarcity of LGTBI-themed books, they founded the label legalbeside berkanathe ‘queer’ bookstore in Madrid, to print new voices.
Since then they have passed 28 yearsalmost three decades active, during which they have served as a speaker for hundreds of stories of the collective, both publishing their books and giving them space in their shop windows for events as significant as Sant Jordi.
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However, both owners are retiring, and have announced that 2022 will be the last year in operation of this bookstore. If he December 31e, this historic place for the collective close up. They will do so with discounts and clearance offers throughout their catalog. Some bittersweet discounts before the farewell of such an iconic venue.