A bookworm’s tour of Barcelona’s librerías - theguardian.com
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
The Catalan capital may be more famous for Gaudí and tapas, but it has dozens of great bookshops, too
“Every bookshop is an invitation to travel,” observes Jorge Carrión, the Spanish author who has offered me a walking tour of Barcelona’s librerías.
Carrión, also a lecturer at Barcelona’s University of Pompeu Fabra,
knows all about the pleasures of discovering volumes in far-flung
places, from Charing Cross Road to the boulevards of Buenos Aires.
Among its many cultural attractions, Barcelona’s unique and varied bookshops don’t feature heavily on many visitors’ hit lists. Yet they should. There are around 50 spread across the city.
We start by heading west, along the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes – the longest street in Catalonia. The ones we see have English titles peppering their Catalan and Spanish selections. There are two dedicated English language bookstores which cater to the city’s expat set, although Carrión insists that the real treasures are to be found elsewhere.
Our starting point on Carrer de Bailèn is Gigamesh, a Mecca for sci-fi fans, and Carrión’s childhood haunt. Coming to the city from his hometown of Mataró, he was spoilt for choice. “There were eight bookshops of comics, role games and fantastic science fiction,” he says. “It was a ritual to go on a Saturday morning.” Gigamesh is also a successful publisher; in 2002, it bought the Spanish rights to the Game of Thrones saga.
Around the corner, on the Gran Via, the boutique publisher Jan Martí has recently opened Blackie Books’ Lino. There you can find copies of books by Mark Twain alongside George Perrault’s fairytales, housed in the concierge booth of La Casa Bonay hotel. Its post-siesta opening hours attract the cocktail crowd heading into Libertine, the bar at the end of the tiled passage.
The Catalan capital may be more famous for Gaudí and tapas, but it has dozens of great bookshops, too
 |
Among its many cultural attractions, Barcelona’s unique and varied bookshops don’t feature heavily on many visitors’ hit lists. Yet they should. There are around 50 spread across the city.
We start by heading west, along the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes – the longest street in Catalonia. The ones we see have English titles peppering their Catalan and Spanish selections. There are two dedicated English language bookstores which cater to the city’s expat set, although Carrión insists that the real treasures are to be found elsewhere.
Our starting point on Carrer de Bailèn is Gigamesh, a Mecca for sci-fi fans, and Carrión’s childhood haunt. Coming to the city from his hometown of Mataró, he was spoilt for choice. “There were eight bookshops of comics, role games and fantastic science fiction,” he says. “It was a ritual to go on a Saturday morning.” Gigamesh is also a successful publisher; in 2002, it bought the Spanish rights to the Game of Thrones saga.
Around the corner, on the Gran Via, the boutique publisher Jan Martí has recently opened Blackie Books’ Lino. There you can find copies of books by Mark Twain alongside George Perrault’s fairytales, housed in the concierge booth of La Casa Bonay hotel. Its post-siesta opening hours attract the cocktail crowd heading into Libertine, the bar at the end of the tiled passage.
1 comments :
test comment
Reply