The 5% reduction is the maximum legal discount allowed on books outside Book Day and special book fairs, under Spain’s fixed-price regime. Valladolid bookshops will offer it alongside free bookmarks on Friday, 13 November. Since 2011, the Confederación Española de Gremios y Asociaciones de Libreros (CEGAL) campaign has championed independent bookshops as cultural and community spaces. This year’s slogan is “Entra en la librería, asómate a la cultura.”
The date was moved from 11 November, when CEGAL usually holds the annual celebration, because a general strike was called for that day. The change extends beyond Valladolid: Zaragoza also scheduled the national event for Friday, 13 November. The Gremio de Libreros de Valladolid says the day recognises bookshops as cultural spaces spread across the city.
The Guild also presents bookshops as part of neighbourhood commerce and community life. That local-business role featured in an earlier Valladolid report about businesses using Seminci to promote local products. CEGAL has also highlighted commercial pressures on neighbourhood bookshops, particularly rents, and is seeking recognition for bookshops as “espacios culturales singulares.”
Many bookshops will add events for the day, including storytelling sessions or meetings with local authors. Each establishment will set its own programme. CEGAL’s campaign describes independent bookshops as cultural spaces, while the Valladolid programme highlights their role as neighbourhood businesses and meeting points.
The sixth Día de las Librerías bookmark competition was organised with ESI Valladolid design school and Valladolid City Council. Culture Councillor Irene Carvajal and Guild president Pablo de Garay presented the local programme on Thursday, 12 November, at the competition’s awards ceremony.
Ariadna de Torre Sebastián won first prize for her design “Dos segundos”. The two second prizes went to Claudia Ruiz Vázquez and Juan José Muñoz Méndez. ESI Valladolid students created the bookmarks, taking reading as their starting point; imagination and art also informed the designs. Participating bookshops will distribute them free on Friday.
De Garay said the date had changed, but the invitation remained the same: he urged residents to visit a bookshop and browse, then leave with a book and a bookmark.
