It seemed that the closure was definitive, but no: Llibreria Sant Jordi will reopen before the end of the year. The historic premises on Carrer Ferran, which was on the verge of disappearing this spring, has found someone to give it a second life.
The rescue, fortunately and by the way, comes from Temps d’Oci, the Barcelona agency that already saved another literary jewel of the center, the Llibreria Quera, turning it into a reference of bookstores that reinvent themselves to survive.
A bookstore that refused to give up
Rarely has a closure generated so much emotion. When the Sant Jordi announced its liquidation, the queues to buy books turned into a spontaneous tribute: neighbors, onlookers and readers lined up to say goodbye to a place that had been giving meaning to Ferran street for more than sixty years.
This time, fortunately, the tribute will translate into a real salvation: if all goes well, the shutter will be raised again between the end of November and December.
Bookshop, vermuteria and meeting point
The new project will follow the model that already worked with La Quera: combining bookshop and tasting to keep culture viable in the heart of the Gòtic. The plan includes two physical spaces, the bookshop and a back room converted into a bar, and a third symbolic one: its integration into the City Council’s Cultura Viva program, which promotes community cultural projects.
This will involve organizing some forty activities a year, including presentations, talks, literary dinners and other small-format proposals that will have to be adapted to the limited 72 square meters of the premises, with protected façade and furniture, inside a listed building.
The Sant Jordi will maintain its collection of art, photography and architecture, but will expand the offer with literature and history of Barcelona, from Zafón to Rodoreda through Montalbán. It will be staffed by the same bookseller who worked there before the closure, and there will be a novelties table to meet all needs.
The gastronomic part will be in charge of the Bodega La Palma, an institution of the Gòtic with more than twenty years of history, soul also of one of our favorite restaurants, which will offer a short menu, one hundred percent Catalan product: Vic sausages, artisan cheeses, some hot dishes like fricandó, vermouth Miró and wines of the land.