Saint George's Day in Catalonia (Sant Jordi)
23 April 2026 — A rose for you, a book for me – happy Sant Jordi!
Sant Jordi is the feast of Saint George, patron saint of Catalonia, celebrated every year on 23 April. According to legend, the knight George slew a dragon and saved a princess, and a rose bush grew from the dragon's blood. The legend is linked to the custom of giving a rose to a loved one. In the 1920s and 1930s the book was added to the tradition: Book Day, proposed by bookseller Vicent Clavel, has been held on 23 April since 1930. By custom a rose is exchanged for a book, and today both gifts are given freely. The date is also symbolically linked to the deaths of Cervantes and Shakespeare (although Cervantes died on 22 April and Shakespeare on 23 April by the old Julian calendar), and UNESCO chose 23 April as World Book and Copyright Day. In Barcelona and other Catalan towns the streets fill with stalls selling roses and books, and authors sign their works. Balconies and buildings are often decorated with the Catalan flag. The holiday follows the solar calendar, so it does not depend on lunar phases; it falls in mid-spring, when the northern sky is filled with spring constellations.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure of a knight made of light points and thin lines, like a constellation, holding a glowing rose of tiny stars
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