Prensa

 

Barcelona, Spain, a 25 de junio de 2025

Barcelona and Guadalajara will bloom in the FIL 2025

With the slogan ‘Vindran les flors’ the Barcelona delegation will be composed of more than 60 authors, nine nights of shows, exhibitions, performing arts, a film series and a gastronomic festival

 

Barcelona is ready to disembark at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. With the slogan ‘Vindran les flors’ and a delegation of more than 60 authors, nine nights of shows, exhibitions, performing arts, a film series and a gastronomic festival, Barcelona announced its program of activities with which they will show the harmony between their literary tradition and modernity, with Catalan and Spanish authors . The above was announced at a press conference held this Wednesday morning at the Barcelona City Council and attended by Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona; Josep Maria Carreté, the Generalitat de Catalunya Secretary General of Culture; Trinidad Padilla López and Marisol Schulz Manaut, president and director of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), respectively; and Anna Guitart, curator of the Barcelona program.

            Taken from a story by Mercè Rodoreda, the motto “The flowers will come” is the symbol of Barcelona's participation. “Flowers as a link with Guadalajara, known as the city of roses, and flowers also as a symbol of our Diada de Sant Jordi. Barcelona is a city where literature, art, science and gastronomy flourish” explained the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, during his participation. In addition, he reiterated that one of Barcelona's intentions as Guest of Honor will be "to re-launch, remake and intensify Barcelona's ties with the Latin American world."

           Trinidad Padilla López, president of the Guadalajara FIL said that the presence of Barcelona will be “the celebration of a plural identity, of a rich and creative avant-garde tradition that has known how to maintain a dialogue with the world without losing its roots." He also stated that "the presence of Barcelona will leave a lasting mark on our Fair and on our reading communities, and it will be an honor to receive them as the Guest of Honor in an edition that promises to be unforgettable."

           During her participation, the General Director of the Guadalajara FIL, Marisol Schulz Manaut, recalled that the presence of Barcelona as Guest of Honor is not a coincidence "but a manifestation of a deep, historical and endearing relationship between two worlds that share an imagination and cultural vocation”. She recalled the work of the editor Carmen Balcells, who, she said “knew how to create a very powerful connection with literature on both sides of the Atlantic.”

           Besides the delegation of more than 60 authors such as Eduardo Mendoza, Colm Tóibín, Javier Cercas, Xavier Bosch, Andreu Martin, Carme Riera, Cristina Fernández Cubas and Juan Pablo Villalobos, who will travel to Guadalajara from November 29th to December 7th, Barcelona will offer a program that will include exhibitions, concerts at the FIL Forum, theater and dance, a film series and even gastronomic glimpses, commented Anna Guitart, curator of the Barcelona program, who said that "the biggest challenge was to reduce, choose those people we think can represent us."

          Barcelona will have an outstanding participation within FIL Kids with the presentation of a show and several children workshops. Also, the Guest of Honor will be responsible for defining the graphic image of this space that will be in charge of the Catalan artist Miguel Bustos, who will illustrate and set the scene at the venue. Likewise, the also called City of Literature will be present in various programs of the Fair such as FIL Science, FIL Thought or in the training program for Professionals. In addition, its Pavilion, which was designed by the architecture firm Fàbric, will recreate a Barcelona square of 1,183 m2, and will have a bookstore that will house about ten thousand copies, as well as an auditorium for 120 people where part of the literary and professional activities will take place.

            The FIL Forum will have an important musical proposal with performances by Maria Arnal, Rigoberta Bandini, Mushkaa, Love of Lesbian, Lucía Fumero, Queralt Lahoz, Roger Mas i la Cobla de Sant Jordi, Joan Garriga i el Mariatxi galàctic, Mrs. Tomassa and Tarta Rpelena. In the performing arts, three proposals stand out: Sonoma, from La Veronal; Jo, travesti, by Josep Maria Miró and a dramatized reading of La plaça del diamant, by Mercè Rodoreda, directed by Carlota Subirós.

            The 39th edition of the FIL Guadalajara will be held from November 29 to December 7 at Expo Guadalajara with Barcelona as a Guest of Honor.

 

Download the full program of Barcelona, Guest of Honor

Photos from the press conference in this link

 

Para más información contacte a:

Mariño González, coordinadora general de Prensa y Difusión, al teléfono (+52) 33 3810 0331, ext. 950