In the premises attached to the historic Sant Jordi bookstore in Barcelona, with its wooden paneling and very antique furniture, there is a souvenir shop called ‘Love Barcelona’. It has one of those shop windows that seem designed by artificial intelligence, laminated in tacky colors. Almost the entire Ferrán street in Barcelona, where hordes of tourists walk daily, has become a strip of redundant commercial fabric. On its sidewalks are crowded establishments with identical signage, typography and fluorescent color range, with garish lights and loud music. Some sell shoes, others cell phone cases, others key chains and mugs of the Sagrada Familia.
The Sant Jordi bookstore is starring these days in a kind of Christmas miracle that, if made into a film, would star Meg Ryan and scripted by Norah Ephron. On December 10, Josep Morales Monroig, its owner, died at the age of 58. Someone reported on social media about Morales’ death and the precarious situation of the bookstore, whose rent expires in February, and for days queues and queues of neighbors have been crowding at its doors to buy his books. In all the reports, Cristina Riera, the bookseller’s partner, appears very excited, telling how she herself fell in love with the bookstore 30 years ago and then with Josep himself, and how what is happening is the best possible tribute to his figure and his legacy.
#bookstore #Christmas #miracle
