Sun, hail and crowds in the first post-pandemic Sant Jordi

Barcelona has woken up with wet streets and Catalans scanning the sky.

But the forecast of 80% chance of rain has given a truce so that the first post-pandemic Sant Jordi, without restrictions or masks, was lived without water, at least during its first hours.

full streets, roses, writers signing and a popular reading of

in front of the Cathedral.

Iván, a 23-year-old from Terrassa, with a backpack on his shoulder, invoked Rocinante on the platform of the Cervantes association in Barcelona: anyone could go up and read a few paragraphs a few streets from where the second part of

in 1615 (at 14 Calle del Call, headquarters of the disappeared workshop of Sebastián Comellas, which both Cervantes and Don Quixote visited).

"The most important thing for everyone after two such complicated years is that Sant Jordi finally returns. The writer's is a lonely job, you write locked up in the library. But here you realize that you are not alone in that library," he stressed. between signature and signature

one of the most requested authors of the day.

His new novel

, another of his historical fictions starring Julius Caesar, promises to be one of the books of the day (since it was published on April 5, it has been at the

of the best sellers).

"It's my biggest literary challenge: six self-contained books about Caesar. I couldn't count such a great character in a trilogy...", he admitted.

Javier Cercas signing a copy of his novel. MARTA PÉREZ / EFE

In Plaza de Catalunya,

, one of the writers most loved by the people of Barcelona and who last year already triumphed with

in Sant Jordi, was disheveled by the early morning gusts of wind, which have even made the poster of his

fall .

He is one of the most helpful authors with his readers, he takes his time to chat with them and to sign copies of

(Tusquets).

The same as his colleague

.

In 2021,

was in all the streets of Barcelona and was, by far, the best-selling book of Sant Jordi.

"I have many recidivist readers," acknowledged the writer after signing

to a young woman recently arrived from New York, who had come to look for her with her whole family.

"The third best-selling book? They told me last night and I didn't believe it. It's as if it happened to someone else," admitted

, whose novel

is behind the

of Posteguillo and

.

It has been seven years since Lijtmaer left Barcelona to settle in Madrid, but a large part of her novel takes place in the Catalan capital.

"It's very exciting to come back and sign here," she said.

Sáez de Urturi was excited by the return to normality of the signatures.

"I remember last year, when they put us writers behind methacrylate screens and you had to make an appointment for the signing. This year the human connection with the readers has returned. The kisses have returned, perhaps not yet the hugs of yesteryear, but seeing readers' faces is a gift", confessed the author of

Two chairs away from Urturi,

was signing copies of

Leaving the small town where he lives and coming to a crowded Barcelona with tens of thousands of people on the street has left Lorenzo "perplexed, like a rabbit in the headlights of a car", he confessed before rolling up his sleeves and starting his second batch of morning signatures.

He has taken advantage of the trip to Barcelona to deliver to his publisher,

of Blackie Books, the manuscript of his next novel, which will be published in October and has a promising title:

For

, the three writers behind the pseudonym

this is their first Sant Jordi in which they meet their readers with their faces uncovered after revealing their identity in the last Planeta Prize.

"I am delighted. So much so that I regret not having come many other times before," Jorge Díaz confessed this morning in a crowded Plaza de Catalunya where there was no room for a pin.

A large queue of readers waited patiently under the sun to get the triple signature of the authors of The Bride, the novel that will become a series and whose first season has just finished shooting.

"My goodness, I make dedications that look like novels", exclaimed

after filling an entire page with fine print of

, a revelation book acclaimed by critics and readers, which has been erected with the first Finestres Award for Narrative in Spanish.

"I have lived Sant Jordi looking for anecdotes of Sant Jordi", recognized the writer, who during her years as a journalist in EL MUNDO she wrote the most colorful chronicles of the day.

She is now on the other side, that of the authors.

As

, cultural journalist for ABC and winner of the Nadal award for

.

"I had never been able to come to Barcelona for Sant Jordi. It really is a party: until you're here and you go out on the street you don't realize what this day means, no matter how much you see it on TV," he assured while rushing your second morning coffee.

This surprise effect of Sant Jordi is what makes authors like

return to Barcelona again and again.

Inspector Jaritos's father signed in Greek and English

, his latest novel.

And more than one fan thanked him in Greek, he

.

"Tomàs, quin temps farà?" People asked Tomàs Molina, the TV3 weather man, also highly sought after today.

Many stopped him in the street to see if it would rain.

"He will last until 2:00 p.m.," he said.

An intense shower, even with hail, has fallen around 1:00 p.m.

But it has been brief and the sun has risen again in a Barcelona that is experiencing its most festive day, enhanced by the literary superblock in the city center: almost 25 Eixample islands closed to traffic.

If the rain is kept at bay, this Sant Jordi could be "one of the most relevant in history", in the words of

president of the Catalan Book Chamber.

The book sector expects to invoice more than 22 million euros and even exceed the figures of the long-awaited 2019,

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