WRC News Letter! - On the hunt for lost books: FGC hides 500 books in its stations for Sant Jordi!
Reading on the train, A wondeful habit that is lost.
On the hunt for lost books!
“ FGC hides 500 books in its stations in bcn for Sant Jordi “
It's been a long time since the image (fetish for many) of a person holding a book while enduring the swaying of the wagon has been replaced by a lot of bowed heads looking at mobile phone screen, Sant Jordi, or St. George, is the patron saint of Catalonia and the Diada de Sant Jordi, St George's Day, is a festive occasion that, over the years, has become a celebration of Catalan culture.
The Sant Jordi that is approaching is the day of books and that is why Ferrocarrils organizes a bookcrossing with half a thousand books hidden in all their stations on April 22 and 23 to encourage reading among its passengers.
The stations where the books will be "hidden" are the stations on the Barcelona-Vallès line, specifically the Pl. Cataluña and Sarrià stops) and the Pl. España stop on the Llobregat-Anoia line. The books will also be found at other stations throughout Catalonia, such as the Sant Cugat, Autonomous University, Sabadell Pl. Mayor, Terrassa Rambla, L'Hospitalet Av. Carrilet, Sant Boi, Martorell Enlace, Igualada, Manresa Alta and Balaguer stops
This giant bookcrossing is just one of the activities that FGC has programmed to celebrate Sant Jordi and encourage reading among its travellers. For this reason, the entity will baptize three of its trains (yes, FGC trains are named after characters from Catalan culture) with the names of three injured letters. Two will bear the names of Joan Fuster and Gabriel Ferrater, thus commemorating the centenary of their birth. The third will be baptized with the name of Aina Moll, a Catalan philologist who gives her name to the AINA project of the Generalitat de Catalunya, based on data technology and artificial intelligence to make it possible for machines to understand and speak Catalan and thus guarantee the survival of language in the digital realm.
Information About Sant Jordi and why it is celebrated!
Each year, the streets are filled with people strolling around grasping books and roses wrapped in ribbons in the colours of the Catalan flag (The Senyera). Sant Jordi (Barcelona's patron Saint) is based on a remarkable legend that speaks of courage, love and honour. On this day we commemorate the knight and martyr George of Cappadocia, who died on 23 April 303.
The basic idea for Sant Jordi is that men give women roses and women give men books. And it can be anybody, not necessarily your partner or somebody who you have taken a liking to. For this feast, boys also buy roses for their mums; girls buy books for their friends too, According to the legend, Saint George saved his princess by killing the dragon from whose blood grew a rose. That is why some consider it the Catalan Valentine´s Day, because Saint George is said to be, par excellence, the patron saint of lovers in Catalonia.
