If you walk through any park in Spain — I usually find myself in El Retiro with my dogs — you’ll always spot someone on a bench or sitting on the grass, completely absorbed in a book. Take the underground, and you’ll see several commuters spending time in pages, whether seated or standing.
Reading is a beautiful and common activity in this country. In fact, according to the Ministry of Culture of Spain, 75.3% of people aged between 14 and 24 years old read a book in their free time last year.
Every year, the Book Fair in Madrid (May-June) or St Jordi in Barcelona (April) attract thousands of people who buy new titles, get them signed by their favourite authors, or attend panels and conversations about the written word.
(Elvira Sastre signing us a copy of
“Las Vulnerabilidades” at the Madrid Book Fair in 2024.)
A couple of trends are particularly interesting. One is the fact that younger generations in Spain (over 50% of 18 to 27 year olds) prefer to read books originally published in English in that language, rather than in translation.
This, of course, signals a shift in language behaviour and the inevitability of cultural globalisation among readers – although it poses a challenge for translators, and a reduced income for writers who typically earn more from Foreign Rights and translations than from original copies sold overseas.
The second trend – both are taken from a survey commissioned by the Spanish newspaper El País —has to do with favourite genres. Those in the publishing industry know that over the last few years the new kids in the block are Romance and Fantasy. Both genres are attracting an increasing number of readers and Spain is no exception.
Almost 70% of readers between 18 and 27 years of age read Fantasy, while almost 50% of men over 60 enjoy it too. The Boomers are increasingly enjoying fantastical worlds once considered exclusive to middle graders.
If you want to speculate about the reasons behind it, I’d recommend this podcast with literary agent Sarah Londis who points to Harry Potter, among other influences. She also does a great job defining speculative fiction, fantasy and science fiction genres.
But in case you want to go beyond numbers and statistics, just take a stroll through any neighbourhood in Madrid and you’ll find plenty of bookshops. I have six temples of words within a five-minute walk.
That is my definition of paradise.
David Cuen 
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