Celebrate love and literature at the Sant Jordi festival in Catalonia this April

Love is in the air in Catalonia this month. The Sant Jordi Festival – the region’s equivalent of Lovers Day - is celebrated across the towns and villages of Catalonia on the 23rd April, making this a truly magical time to visit.

The celebration could not be simpler: the ritual consists of going for a walk and buying a rose, a book or both to give to loved ones, family members and friends. This is one of the year’s favourite festivals for locals and the streets and squares are filled with people.

The day celebrates the famous story of Sant Jordi. According to the legend, a dragon was wreaking havoc among the people of a village. To try to contain it, they decided to draw lots to see which one of them would be fed to the beast. One day the king’s daughter was chosen and would have died at the hands of the dragon, had Jordi the knight not appeared to slay it. A bush of red roses sprouted from its spilled blood, and that is why nowadays people gift roses during Sant Jordi Day in Catalonia.

The 23rd April is also a day to celebrate literature being the anniversary of the deaths of two of the greatest names in the history of literature, Cervantes and Shakespeare. The date has latterly been designated by UNESCO as World Book Day, making it the perfect occasion to give the gift of a book.

The event is particularly celebrated in Les Ramblas in Barcelona, where the streets are filled with stands selling roses and books. It’s a particularly interesting time for book-lovers to visit the capital, with local and international authors attending and signing copies of their books in the tents that line the streets.

Visitors to Catalonia can also enjoy a number of special events to mark this special day, including concerts, poetry recitals or book exchanges. The village of Montblanc is also one of the most enchanting places to visit on Sant Jordi’s day as people celebrate with a series of cultural activities and entertainment revolving around the Middle Ages and the legend of St. George.