Sant Jordi or Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia, and April 23 is the day when Catalans celebrate love, roses, romance, and also books.
This week's episode is recorded from the bookshop Backstory in the heart of Barcelona.
We explain what makes this day special and why people give each other roses and books. We learn about the legend of Sant Jordi and how this day became World Book Day promoted by UNESCO in 1995.
We meet international authors Monika Zgustová, Hernan Díaz, and Sohn Won-pyung, talk to people on the streets of the Catalan capital, and hear from Vicki, co-owner of the English bookstore Hibernian as well as Kate and Abby, who opened Backstory back in February of 2024.
Lea Beliaeva Bander is joined by the entire Catalan News team, Gerard Escaich Folc, Oriol Escudé Macià, Lorcan Doherty, Cillian Shields, and Ona Van Dyck Colomer.
The Catalan phrase of the week is the Sant Jordi appropriate “Hi havia una vegada”, which means “Once upon a time”.
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Shifting sands - Beneath Catalonia’s coastal changes
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Climbing Catalonia: Scaling new heights with indoor and outdoor bouldering
Behind bars: from model prison to overcrowded agony – the story of La Model
Mobile-free zones: How a parent initiative led to the restriction of phones in Catalan schools
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Inside Mobile World Congress 2024 – AI, quantum tech, aviation innovation and Catalan startups
Catalan farmers' protests: Why are they demonstrating?
Catalan Wikipedia – community, knowledge, language and culture
Record year – Barcelona's booming vinyl scene
Girona FC – the tiny Catalan football club making it big
Spotlight on education – Poor PISA results raise questions for Catalan schools
Censored, prohibited, vandalized - inside Barcelona’s Museum of Forbidden Art
How Catalonia’s Roma community keeps the Romani language alive
A look back at 2023 - elections, drought and celebrity break-ups
The Father of Catalan Modernism - How Lluís Domènech i Montaner started a movement
Antoni Tàpies’ centenary - Avant garde art that makes you think
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