La Rambla, that immense torrent of life that vertebrates Barcelona, is about to be transformed into a gigantic open-air bookstore. The initiative is called La Rambla Vila del Llibre, a festival that returns from December 12 to 14 and that, beyond the purchase of books, has proposed to open doors and reveal the secrets hidden behind the facades of this emblematic promenade.
Organized by Vitalibris and Amics de la Rambla, this event not only encourages reading, but also becomes a perfect excuse to discover unique spaces that are usually closed. Imagine being able to enter the historic Hotel 4 Naciones, stroll through the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts -the one that tells the official time-, enter the Setba Foundation or cross the Pasaje Bacardí, the first covered street in the city, which, by the way, will host the publishing market. It’s an invitation to see La Rambla from the inside.
Free visits to emblematic buildings
The beauty of this festival lies precisely in the opening of these places steeped in history. The Hotel 4 Naciones still retains the glamour of the classic hotel that welcomed travelers and artists of the late 19th century. The Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts is not only a monumental building, but also an intellectual beacon active since the 18th century.
. And the Setba Foundation, located in the Plaza Reial, is dedicated to enhancing the cultural heritage of this space, from the old Napoleon photographic studio to the spirit of Ocaña. For its part, the Bacardí Passage is an architectural jewel that very few have the opportunity to visit, and the Jamboree is a jazz club of international reference that is part of the musical memory of the square.
A walk through history and its protagonists
The festival is articulated this year around big names. One of the most moving tributes will be dedicated to filmmaker Ventura Pons, an essential figure for his deep connection with literature and the Catalan capital. Through various conversations at the Ocaña restaurant, collaborators and actors will review his creative legacy and his commitment to the Catalan language and LGTBIQ+ rights.
But Pons will not be alone. Lluís Permanyer, the tireless chronicler of Barcelona, whose imprint is indelible in the way he tells the story of the city, will also be remembered. At the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts, historians and journalists will meet to reflect on the profession of chronicler and the vision that Permanyer left us.
Literature will also serve as a time machine to revisit La Rambla at different times. There will be a round table on the turbulent period of pistolerismo at the Hotel 4 Naciones, and the satirical work of Ramon Reventós will be recovered, a brilliant pen of the humorous press that deserves to be rescued from oblivion.
Free concerts, exhibitions and literary routes
The program of La Rambla Vila del Llibre is completed with a selection of activities for all tastes. There will be presentations of new literary novelties, a curious traveling concert by the band Hip Horns, activities for children and a bookbinding workshop.
In addition, on a social note, the Setba Foundation will present its Traspassant l’objectiu project, an initiative born from the work of photographers with women inmates in prisons, the result of which is the photobook Wad-Ras. Invisible women.
And as is tradition, Amics de la Rambla will offer its popular guided literary routes that will allow the public to rediscover the promenade through the eyes of authors such as Salvat-Papasseit, George Orwell or Montserrat Roig. It is a tour of La Rambla that has been walked, imagined and immortalized by generations of writers, a tradition that this festival helps to keep alive.