Camino Barcelona Blog

Next Monday is a special day in Catalonia… and for me! It is Saint George’s day. In Catalonia this is a day with plenty of celebrations.

The tradition says that men have to buy a red rose to his girlfriend or loved one and women buy a book to their couple. In practise, that means that you’ll find all the centric streets full of stands selling books and roses.

The tradition of giving a rose comes from the ‘Legend of Saint George’. This legend says that a dragon captured George’s lover. George, as the good knight that he was, went with his armour to free his mistress! He fighted the dragon and killed it. The legend says that from the dragon’s blood a rosebush of red roses grew.

Don’t miss the oportunity on Monday to surprise your secret lover with a rose!

The tradition of giving a book as a present is more uncertain but what is for sure is that 23rd April is also the international day of books. This date was chosen in honour to 2 of the biggest writters ever, William Shakespeare and the Spanish Miguel de Cervantes, as they both died a 23rd April.

This coming week is the perfect moment to get a book from your favourite authors signed by themselves! Many authors sell their books in person on the many stands that are spread around the city. This is the day when more books are sold during the year and many Spanish popular writers wait to these dates to release their new books!

At the school we have organized a visit to the many stands that are close to the school, so that you can buy as many roses and books as you want. I personally recommend it to everybody, as on this day you will see Barcelona more colourful than ever! Saint George is also the Catalan patron saint so you’ll see the Catalan flag hanging from the balconies and everywhere in the streets!

This is not all! April 23rd is also a special day for me as it’s my Name’s day, San Jordi! If that wasn’t enough it is also Rocio’s birthday, yes yes, it’s our Director’s Birthday so don’t forget to sing her a very loud Happy Birthday song!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 20th, 2007 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Actividades, Jordi's Posts, Spanish Culture - Cultura española, What to do in Barcelona. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.