Sant Jordi's day

Sant Jordi's Day in Barcelona and Catalonia is celebrated every year on 23 April to commemorate Saint George (called Sant Jordi in Catalonia), who died on 23 April 303 AD. Saint George is the patron of Catalonia and, on this day, Catalan people narrate the legend of Saint George.

According to the legend, near the shores of Montblanc a savage dragon, which scared all the city, lived there. The dragon was eating the entire bestiary up to the point that he did not have anything else to eat. That day, the King decided to search a solution to the problem: to live a normal life, they had to try that the dragon stopped being hungry and, to accomplish this, they decided to offer one person chosen randomly every day. With this, the population would have the chance to live in calm, at least one day more.


The fortune chose its first victim: the King’s daughter. The princess was sent to the dragon’s cave for her slaughter. But suddenly, a knight ridding a white horse appeared. His name was Jordi and he came to save the princess and all the village. He fought with the dragon and he finally killed it with his long spear. From the blood of the dragon, a rose bush was born, plenty of wonderful red roses.

Because of this legend, it is tradition that men give the ladies a rose and that ladies give the men a book (the book tradition has nothing to do with Sant Jordi, but is a tribute to William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, who died on 23 April day). Barcelona is full of people who have been waiting for this celebration the whole year.

This day, people can join lots of activities everywhere. There are activities in libraries, bookshops, radios, the street... Some of the most popular activities are public lectures, blood donation, free concerts… and even a lot of writers come to Barcelona to sign their books!
There are special activities in schools too, where children make theatre performances and do crafts such as bookmarks, paper roses, etc.
What people like to do is buy books for that reason it is the time when book sellings increase. In this day libraries make the 10% of the money of the year, so it is a very important day for libraries too. Here is a list with the best-selling books in this day.

NON-FICTION BOOKS:
És l’hora dels adéus? - Xavier Sala i Martín
Sucs verds - Carla Zaplana

FICTION BOOKS:
Algú com tu - Xavier Bosch
El món blau: estima el teu caos - Albert Espinosa
Mariona - Pilar Rahola

We can enjoy this celebration everywhere in Catalonia. Nonetheless, Barcelona is the most visited city in Sant Jordi because of the amount of activities which people can join in. The most visited places in Barcelona are “Plaça Catalunya”, “Les Rambles” and “Passeig de Gràcia” which you can visit at once because of their closeness.

This celebration is personally the best hold in Barcelona. We love the atmosphere and all the activities. Moreover, we believe that it is a very important celebration because it is a special cultural event, a different day when people go out and enjoy a wide range of activities.