Sant Jordi Day

Once upon a time in Barcelona

Holiday of roses and books

Casa Batllo being dressed up with roses
Sant Jordi Day
Magdalena Szymanska Magdalena Szymanska

Once upon a time in a kingdom, which according to different versions of this story is placed among all somewhere in Catalonia, the peaceful life of its citizens had been disrupted by a dragon. The monster terrified the whole city and demanded alms in the form of animals to devour. However, when at some point all the animals had been eaten by a creature, it started to demand human sacrifices.

One day, the only daughter of a king itself had been chosen by faith to be sacrificed. And as always happens in such stories, the King set a reward of marrying his daughter for killing the dragon. That is when the divisive knight enters the story, today known as Sant Jordi. He rescues the princess and the whole kingdom by killing the beast. As a legend says from a place where the first drops of dragon´s blood landed, a beautiful rose transformed.

Celebrations of Sant Jordi

The celebrations of this day are being held on 23rd of April in Spain, but are especially celebrated in Catalonia, as Sant Jordi is a patron of this region. As this day is also a World Book Day, the whole of Barcelona is filled with books and roses. Roses as a memorial for being saved by Sant Jordi and books for celebrating an International Book day.

In Catalonia this day is considered as a real day of people being in love. The tradition is for women to receive roses from their men as honoring the brave knight. Men, however, are getting books from their beloved ones, not only as a celebration of World Book Day, but also because around this time two famous writers died – Cervantes and Shakespeare.

What is going on in Barcelona?

Walking down the Barcelona streets participants may observe lots of stands filled either with books or roses being sold.

The main point of celebrations is in the center of Barcelona, close to plaza Catalunya and Passeig de Gràcia. Those neighborhoods are full of people walking around and buying flowers or books. However, if one would go to less touristic places in Barcelona, they may experience a more community vibe, people just enjoying the day, attending local concerts, drinking and eating.

Here is a brief sigh of how did it look like in 2022 in Barcelona.

Magdalena Szymanska

Psychology student intrested in personal development, travelling and sports. Book lover. Doing Erasmus exchange here, in stunning Barcelona.