The Madrid Book Fair starts with the expectation of reaching 12 million euros in turnover | Culture

The temperatures gave a respite this Friday morning at the premiere of the 83rd Madrid Book Fair, which will remain open until June 15. Visitors, walkers, schoolchildren and runners filled the Retiro and approached the Paseo de Coches, where the 359 booths that make up this year’s classic book event with its popular pilgrimage point are located, which represents a great commercial milestone in the Spanish publishing world. “This year could be very good, although in this sector the captures are exaggerated and the depressions are increasing,” explained Daniel Fernández, president of the Federation of the Editors’ Guild of Spain. “In general book we have accumulated growth above 5% compared to last year,” he added. Manuel González, from the Editors’ Guild of Madrid, pointed out the mark to beat in this fair, dedicated precisely to the relationship between sport and literature: “Last year we reached 11 million in turnover and one and a half million visitors, although “Not everything is a buyer.”

There are always curious people among the booths, and when Queen Letizia is out for a walk even more so. In 2023, the opening of the fair was somewhat “unstructured”, as director Eva Orúe recalled, since the Queen could not come and there was less protocol, but this Friday the tradition, the security guards and the shouts of admiration for Letizia They came back. Wearing sports shoes, a suit and white linen pants, she began her walk through the booths accompanied by an extensive entourage of more than 30 people, including the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun; the general secretary of urban agenda, housing and architecture, Iñaqui Carnicero; the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida; the delegate of the Government Area of ​​Culture, Tourism and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz; the councilor of the Retiro district, Andrea Levy; as well as the ambassadors of the countries that have a prominent presence at the fair (Sweden, Portugal, Andorra, Canada, Argentina). Near the queen during the hour and a half visit, Eva Orúe, in pink.

The officers started with the first stop at the National Police booth, which this year celebrates its bicentennial – there was no delivery of copies there – and then the booths of the Ministry of Culture and the Community of Madrid, until reaching the bookstore. Grant, where Sergio, who ran the booth, said that they talked about titles like Knife, by Salman Rushdie, and The distance that separates us, by Maggie O’Farrell. In the historic La Felipa bookstore the Queen received a volume dedicated to the history of this trade and the street of booksellers in Madrid. At the Acantilado stand she received from the distributor Verónica García, among other titles, The murmur of the water, by María Belmonte, and Valentino, by Natalia Ginzburg. And in the booth of the Alvarellos label, which debuts at the fair, a facsimile of poems in Galician by Federico García Lorca, the haikus book by Helena Villar minimal poetry y Antidote, by Emma Pereira.

One of the new features, not without controversy, is a new octagonal space in the center of the promenade, where 15 small stamps are located. There the queen received a copy of like beasts (The Outskirts), by Violaine Bérot, 2023 Booksellers’ Prize; and another of The villa of Vistalegrepublished by Artelibro, a publishing house that debuts at the fair; Guadarrama (Papeles Mínimos), by the poet Luis Muñoz and the painter Montse Lago; and two Tránsito titles, “national product” according to editor Sol Salama (I just wanted to dance by Greta García, and I almost don’t remember anymore, by Clara Morales). A change in the regulations has pushed these smaller labels into this space and there are new and veteran labels mixed in, who until now were eligible for a booth. According to Orúe, this was the only option there was for them to be there. The director hopes to regain the central space for books and make this work. UntamedIt is another of the initiatives in this sense, and 43 labels are invited there that will rotate during the fair and that are further away from the commercial circuit.

The authorities’ tour ended at the booth of the Economic Culture Fund, a fundamental bridge between Spain and Latin America, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary. There the Queen received a book, Voices from the mirrorwho had left this year’s Cervantes Prize dedicated to her, Luis Mateo Díez.

This Friday afternoon the colorful program of activities will begin with an opening talk at 7:30 p.m. between the French critic and writer Pierre Assouline, the Argentine Leila Guerriero and the former soccer player, writer and avid reader Miguel Pardeza. In addition to the endless signature calendar, available on the web, a good number of talks and colloquiums are planned (Richard Ford and Mariana Enriquez on June 6; Lionel Shriver and Sergio del Molina on June 9; Martín Caparrós, Juan Villoro and Belén Gopegui on June 15, among many others). There will also be a night fair on June 7 with extended hours until 11:30 p.m., with three stages for musical and theatrical performances. Lots of books and lots of partying starting this Friday in Madrid.

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