Yesterday was la diada de Sant Jordi, a.k.a. St. George’s Day. Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia [among other countries], and on this day of lovers traditionally men give their women roses and women give their men books [not quite as traditionally].

Also known as “The Day of Lovers,” La Diada de Sant Jordi is like Valentine’s Day with some uniquely Latin twists. The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts–men give their novias roses, and women give their novios a book to celebrate the occasion. Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent marketing ploy. In 1923, a smart bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to honor the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on April 23, 1616. Barcelona is the publishing capital of the Spanish-speaking world and this heady one-two punch of love and literacy was quickly adopted.

I went to Plaça Catalunya in the afternoon and strolled down the Ramblas for a while. I have never seen the Ramblas more crowded, it was so packed that sometimes you could not even walk and had to stop every few steps. All along the Ramblas there were booths selling roses and books. I also got a free book that was being handed out on my way home. It was really fun to see so many people with roses in all colors, and it seemed like half of Barcelona was out and about on this beautiful spring day.

As always, you can see all of the pictures at Flickr.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 19:00 and is filed under Life in Spain, Photo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.