All the booksellers agree: the first weekend of the Palma Book Fair it has been quite a “influx” success. “Historically, Saturday has always been the best day, even more so than Sunday, since this day people take the opportunity to go to family meals or to the beach, especially considering that the good weather has greatly respected the weekend” , comments Sergio González, from Literanta this Monday morning which, however, has developed quite calmly. «There are a lot of tourists who look, but not so many who buy. They ask us if we have titles in English or German, but, in our case, we have little offer,” he adds, while predicting that, in the afternoon, it will get lively again.
González also makes his debut at this Fair as a presenter, since this Thursday he will chat with Sara Barquinero about his celebrated novel Scorpions (Lumen), which has become a publishing phenomenon. “I’m sure it will have a long way to go,” he says about this work that, according to him, before it saw the light of day there was already a lot of expectation about it. Compared to another phenomenon that will be present at this Fair, Blackwater (Blackie Books), in a meeting that will be featured this Tuesday afternoon by the illustrator of the saga, Pedro Oyarbide, González believes that Barquinero’s will last longer.
Lucia Pietrelli, writer and bookseller in Magic Drac who last Friday gave the opening speech of the Fira, confesses that he has also succumbed to Blackwater. «It has hooked me a lot. It is a saga very much my style: family stories with fantastic and dark overtones. “It’s not the book of my life, but I had a great time reading it.” The bookstore is committed to carrying “a mix of works for children and young people, as well as essays and narratives, both novelties and background books.”
Likewise, Pietrelli agrees that the mornings are quiet at the Fira and that many tourists request books in English, an offer that occurs especially in The Salina, run by Marina Alonso de Caso. «It is the third time that we participate in the Fira and many already know us. It has worked especially well children’s books, but there are also many places that buy books in English. This year everything is considerably better than last year and it’s not that it was bad, but we have improved a lot,” he celebrates. From Rat Corner, Alexis Belmonte acknowledges that they have brought to Born the English literature section that they have in the bookstore, located in front of the Rívoli, and that they have sold a few titles in this language. “They are usually tourists who want to have a reading for the plane,” she says.
The one that does debut in this edition is Aldana Areco, from Own Bookstorean establishment based in Quadrado Square that only sells books written by women. «I am very happy with all the comments I am receiving, which are very positive. People of all types of profiles come here, from young people who want recommendations to get started in the world of horror or horror themes subcultures even older people who wear classics,” he clarifies.
For its part, Marian Pons, who works at the Nova Editorial Moll, shares the enthusiasm of his colleagues. “On Friday there was a kind of collapse in Palma, everything was full of tourists, it seemed like a river of tourists, but on Saturday the panorama improved,” he says. Surprisingly, he says, there are those who ask not for books in English, which in Moll’s case also offer some dedicated to the rondalles or the native Mallorcan flora in this language, but in Spanish. One of the most successful titles at this stop is Breus Majorcan històriesof Robert Graves, which Nofre Moyà has translated and compiled for the first time in Catalan. He will present it this Saturday at 12:00 pm with William Graves and Eduard Moyà.
Near Moll is Comic Universes with Toni Robles at the helm on this Monday morning. «Monday morning is always usually the worst day, but I could swear that last year it was less crowded than today. And not only foreign tourists, but also Spanish ones,” he explains, while there are those who enter to take some photographs at the stand, decorated with lights and comic pages hanging on different mobiles.
Asked about the coexistence with terraces, which this weekend left some controversial scenes with bar patrons occupying public benches, the majority point out that, so far, they have had no problems. For his part, Robles is more critical. «It is easy to say that there are no problems on a Monday morning and it may be that, as a result of the photographs that have been circulating on the networks over the weekend, they now want to be more careful, because the truth is that on Saturday afternoon “Everything was packed,” he says.
Marta Prunés, from Lila and the Contes, announces that, in addition to children’s and young people’s books, they have decided to include titles for adults, especially contemporary novels, and they have even launched a crime novel reading club. “The neighborhood [Es Fortí] “He was orphaned by this type of offers, many clients asked for this type of offer and we are delighted to be able to give it to them,” he reasons.
For his part, Amadeu Corbera, one of the partners who own Quart Creixent, comments that among the best sellers, books on the history of Mallorca stand out, but also novels. It should be noted that this bookstore with more than 40 years of experience serving Catalan literature is looking for a new manager after the retirement of veteran bookseller Miquela Serra, which will materialize on December 1. «We are receiving resumes, especially from women, but at the moment we do not have any candidate to be the ‘new Miquela Serra’, who is obviously irreplaceable, the visible face of Quart Creixent. We hope to have a new manager in September to be able to make the transition for the new school year and also the Setmana del Libre en Català.
