One of the year’s most anticipated days has arrived in the city of Barcelona. Thursday, April 23 marks Sant Jordi, the day of the rose and the book, and we don’t want to miss a thing. As every year, the city will dress up for the celebration, with its traditional book stalls, signings by renowned authors, and the roses that will flood the city with color. Undoubtedly, if the weather allows, it will be a day to experience outdoors.
This Sant Jordi 2026 repeats the great pedestrian block between Diagonal, Gran Via and the streets of Balmes and Pau Claris, with an extension through Portal de l’Àngel to the avenue of the Cathedral and a section of Gran de Gràcia, from the Pla de Nicolás Salmerón to Astúries street. And an important note about mobility: during the Sant Jordi Day vehicles will be able to circulate along the perimeter streets of the “Island of Sant Jordi,” as well as along Aragó and València streets and the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. The rest of the space encompassed by the large block will be strictly pedestrian (bicycles and personal mobility devices will not be allowed to circulate there). And the Bicing stations will also be suspended.
What do we know about this year’s poster? It is the work of street artist TVBoy, who offers a contemporary reimagining of the myth and reinterprets the legend of Saint George to place empathy and love at the center of our lives. You will find posters available at the Palau de la Virreina, and one will be distributed per person until supplies run out.
The 2026 Proclamation Will Be Given by Ali Smith
The festivity will begin on Wednesday, April 22, at 6:00 p.m., at the Saló de Cent of the City Hall of Barcelona, with the traditional proclamation that this year will be delivered by writer Ali Smith. This tradition dates back to 2003, and has been performed by authors of renown such as José Saramago or Donna Leon. This year it is the turn of the Scottish Ali Smith, who is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and whose literary trajectory is marked by numerous recognitions and nominations. She revolutionized the Anglo-Saxon literary world with Com ser-ho alhora (Raig Verd, 2015), which has earned the Goldsmith Prize (2014), the Costa Book Award (2014), and the Book of the Year Award (2014) granted by the Saltire Society; she has also been a finalist for the Man Booker Prize (2014) and nominated for the Folio Prize in 2015. L’accidental (Raig Verd, 2017) is another of her major works, winner of the Whitbread Novel Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Her latest work, published in 2026, is A Woolf of Her Own/A Woolf of Her Own, an essay that engages with Virginia Woolf’s literary heritage and reinterprets the impact of reading and writing in the current context. To attend the Saló de Cent at Barcelona City Hall, prior registration is required.
