This year, in April, the Books Supplement from Prensa Ibérica reached its third anniversary, and Dry Martini welcomed guests to its Sant Jordi celebration in the best possible way: a photography exhibition called HOLA! Barcelona that invited viewers to peer at the faces of many city tastemakers from the eighties. The show featured names like Ouka Lele, Ocaña, Nazario, Ángel Casas, Lydia Delgado, and others, hinting at a joyous fusion of celebration and culture. It was a sign that books are not just moments of reading but also opportunities to choose, discuss, meet authors, and perhaps share a drink or two with them.
Javier de las Muelas, the maestro behind Dry Martini, noted with pride that the Abril event had returned to this venue. He described it as a gathering point where people come together through printed words, the scent and soul of books, using them as an excuse to connect in a bar where conversations flow and romance often begins.
As the hours slipped by, what mattered most was the atmosphere. The day had shifted into a night of secrecy, typical of a speakeasy where the party unfolded, a world of shadows and confidences. Discretion shone only faintly; after a marathon day of book stops and sprinting between stands, everyone wanted to talk through the night, to vent the stress of a busy season, while most attendees, writers and industry professionals alike, had spent the day working hard to ensure readers could enjoy the experience.
Among the first arrivals were Núria Amat and her friend Anna Mañé, the cultural journalists Anna Guitart and Llucia Ramis, the Destino editor Anna Soldevila, and veteran book communications figure Laura Santaflorentina. Author Pilar Eyre, accustomed to the influential circles, stood near the politicians present for the precampaign events, with Jordi Soler nearby quietly savoring a salmon tartare as it disappeared faster than it could be captured.
There were other circles too: writer María Leach, editor Anna Casals, and author and press chief Nahir Gutiérrez, all veterans of children’s literature, formed a casual cluster. In a corner, a mood of crime hung in the air as César Pérez Gellida, the recent Nadal Award recipient, spoke with his noir-writing ally Víctor del Árbol. Alicia Giménez Bartlett, skilled but not fond of late nights, reached the doorway of Dry Martini but found the line too long and moved on. It’s widely understood that a successful party inevitably loses a few.
The evening felt like moving through a living map where writers appeared at every turn. Miqui Otero and Juan Pablo Villalobos arrived together and headed straight for the bar. Andreu Claret, Rafael Ballbona, Marta Rebón, Karmele Jaio, Pilar Romera, Victoria Bermejo, Ramon Gener, winner of the Ramon Llull Award this year, Jordi Puntí, and Enric Cucurella, editor of Alpha Decay, circulated through a space that felt utterly full. Familiar names from the city’s social scene, like Cristina Castañer, and the indie cultural figure, filmmaker Albert Serra, drifted through the crowd as well.
Idioa Moll, editor of Alba and escorted by her author Carlos Ruiz Caballero, described how well the day had gone at her publisher’s stand on Plaça Universitat. She spoke of a turnout that felt as good as, if not better than, the previous year, while she waited for the official numbers to confirm the sentiment. Nearby, her brother Aitor Moll, chief executive of Prensa Ibérica, and Sergui Guillot, the group’s director general, shared the sense that Abril had once again delivered a strong evening of culture and commerce.
Álex Sàlmon, director of the literary supplement and the heartbeat of the party, celebrated the growing presence of younger writers at this annual gathering. Beatriz Serrano emerged as one of the season’s breakout voices with a novel that has sparked substantial attention in the United States and across translations. Among the rising stars, Berta Gómez Santo Tomás, who co-directs the literary podcast Demasiadas mujeres with Andrea Gumes, added to the energy in the room.
Abril brings together media houses that are traditional rivals and large publishing groups locked in a friendly contest for readers. The presence of Núria Cabutí, CEO of Penguin Random House, and Carlos Crehueras, head of external relations at Grupo Planeta, underscored the event’s magnitude. With good music playing and the right cocktails in hand, the weapons of competition softened into a peaceful reminder that culture can be a shared, convivial space.
The cava might have been flirting with drought in Catalonia, a situation recent rains helped ease, yet across the Dry Martini space the Elyssia Freixenet wines and hearty platters of Emmentaler cheese circulated generously. Waiters balanced trays from one end of the route to the other, ensuring several guests tasted the careful selections. Though not everyone reached every tray, that is part of the charm of a successful, populated celebration.