Diada de Sant Jordi

On April 23 Saint George's Day, the patron saint of Catalonia, is celebrated as well as Book Day. Tradition dictates that the men buy a rose for the women and that the women buy a book for the men.

Legend has it that a dragon was destroying the surroundings of a village (Montblanc, in the Catalan adaptation) until its inhabitants decided to give it one person per day, chosen by a draw, to thereby prevent any further destruction. One day it was the turn of the King's daughter and when the dragon was about to devour her a knight appeared, Saint George, and killed the beast. A rose bush emerged from the monster's blood from which the knight picked a rose and gave it to the princess.

Saint George's Day is a civic festival throughout Catalonia, a day on which Catalan culture and identity are vindicated. In city streets publishers and bookshops set up book stalls mixed with rose sellers and many writers offer to sign their works.