Sant Jordi: the disaster was by sections


  • Some bookstores suffered losses of up to €50,000 while others, with more luck, were able to call on experience or ingenuity to minimize the damage.

On Saturday it rained, the sun came out, it hailed and a hurricane wind blew. As changeable as the weather was the fate of booksellers and publishers who set up their Sant Jordi stalls in the streets of Barcelona, ​​in the areas assigned for it by the City Council. Some not only saved the furniture in the middle of the storm but were able to close the day with a moderately satisfactory balance. Others, on the other hand, lost everything or almost everything.. The disaster, more than by neighborhoods, was by sections. And there are several factors that explain this disparate destiny.

The first, and perhaps the most important, was the location. At first, all the exhibitors located in the bookish ‘superilla’ in the center of the Eixample (also those in Plaça Reial) faced a considerable problem: as vehicle access to the perimeter space was banned, it was impossible to organize an evacuation plan for the books until nine at night and, therefore, we had to endure at the foot of the canyon even if it rained frogs (which was the only thing missing). But it is that, in addition, within that large area closed to traffic there was a particularly unfortunate point: the confluence of Passeig de Gràcia and Gran Via.

wrecked tents

Over there the problem was the wind. At the crossroads between these two large avenues, the stops were left unprotected against the gusts of air that followed the storm of water and hail. “A minute of hurricane wind knocked down the tables, the tents flew and everything got wet & rdquor ;, said Laura Huerga, founder of the publishing house Raig Verd / Rayo Verde, one of the most affected businesses in a day that those responsible will take time to forget, if they do. “For now we have discarded more than 700 books, which represent about 14,000 euros, and we have about a thousand more to see, of which we will see how many can be saved. In addition, we have lost the tents, which were new and have been totally destroyed & rdquor ;.

Also on Passeig de Gràcia and Gran Via they flew, among others, the awnings of Abacus and La Central. Antonio Ramírez, co-owner of this last chain of bookstores, made a first estimate of the books spoiled: no less than 2,000. “Approximately 30% of the total number of books we put out on the street” (On Saturday, La Central also had stops on Passeig de Gràcia and Mallorca and in Plaça Reial). To these losses, we must add what was not invoiced by having to suspend the sale after the damage. “I calculate that we will have stopped billing about 50,000 euros&rdquor ;, Ramírez pointed out.

Documenta’s Resistance

Much more fortunate were the five Barcelona bookstores that, in the run-up to Sant Jordi, accepted the invitation from EL PERIÓDICO to share their expectations and misgivings about the day that was to come. Perhaps the most striking case was that of the historic Documenta, whose stop, located at the height of Mallorca street, resisted standing in a quite heroic way while all around him calamities were lavished. “About 10 books were spoiled, no more,” explains Èric del Arco. It was a mix of luck and, I guess you could say, experience. They are already 40 years doing Sant Jordi. Us we have very solid and robust tables and tents and many plastics and weights, forever. It is a precaution that may seem unnecessary until something like Saturday happens & rdquor ;.

Those responsible for the calders bookstore They have been in business for far fewer years, but have sharpened their wits to minimize the damage. At the stop installed at the confluence of Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal, and faced with the threat of the wind, they managed to save the books by placing a municipal construction fence on top of the plastic that covered them. “Few have gotten wet & rdquor ;, says Luigi Fugaroli, one of the partners of the bookstore. In addition, the other stop that had been set up in front of the premises, in the Calders passage, could be moved inside a machinery repair workshop that is right next door. “We did have plan B & rdquor ;, says Fugaroli, who adds that the obsession with concentrating the Sant Jordi celebration in one place “has ended up eating the book”.

One day… “intense”

The byron bookstore, who lived his first Sant Jordi without restrictions, was also able to contain the destruction despite having planted his tents in a fairly punished area (Paseo de Gràcia with Provença). “We lost some books, not many, a phone… and a computer that got quite wet and we’ll see if it can revive & rdquor ;, lists Mariana Sarrias, who claims to have lived “a very intense day & rdquor; Y defends, despite everything, the idea of ​​the ‘superilla’ of the Eixample. “The site is very good… if it’s sunny & rdquor;.

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On this last point, he disagrees with Àurea Perelló, from Finestres. “We decided not to go, because if we want to build a space for cultural activity around the bookstore, it doesn’t make sense to set up a stop three blocks away to participate in something that we don’t see much point in either & rdquor ;”, he comments. The closure of Carrer Diputació to traffic allowed them to install the exhibitors in front of the house, so to speak. And they didn’t even have to move the books. “The stop endured very well, but the truth is that it was a very complicated day for everyone and horrible for many & rdquor ;.

Xavier Vidal, from the Nollegiuwho also stayed away from the ‘superilla’ (he had stalls on Rambla del Poblenou and Plaça de l’Oca, in El Clot) and managed to save almost all the books, describes the scene with philosophical resignation: “We have had a race with Sant Jordi… First, confined; later, restricted, and now, slushies & rdquor;.


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