La Diada de Sant Jordi in Barcelona

April 23rd is "La Diada de Sant Jordi," and also known as St. George's Day.  Like many other nations, St. George is the patron saint of Catalonia.  His day is celebrated on April 23rd every year.  This has been Catalonia’s own form of Valentine’s Day since the Middle Ages when legend has it that St. George slew the fearsome dragon, saved the lovely princess and gave her a red red rose plucked a rose from a rose bush, that had conveniently sprouted up from the dragons red blood.

  Pictures of Sant Jordi's day in Barcelona

Is it a true story?  Well, it’s a true fairytale at any rate and a wonderful one at that!

What’s also wonderful is that for one day we can bend the modern rules of political correctness and equal rights and just enjoy the fairytale of knights in shining armour on white horses slaying dragons with bad breath to save beautiful princesses in a whirlwind of chivalry, honour, romance, heroism, swordplay -  and all in the name of true love.

Here is the Catalan version of the St George legend fairytale as told on the Barcelona St. Jordi website:

"Once upon a time, a terrible dragon terrorised the inhabitants of a small village in Catalonia called Montblanc. The dragon wrecked havoc among the population and devoured the animals put out to pasture until there were none left. To calm the dragon's anger, the inhabitants of the village decided to sacrifice one person every day, chosen by drawing lots, and to offer that person to the dragon as a sign of their good will.

"However, one, dark day, the person chosen to be sacrificed was the king's daughter. Just when she was about to be swallowed up by the dragon, a courageous knight appeared and confronted the evil beast. This was Saint George (Sant Jordi in Catalan). He thrust his lance into the dragon and, out of the blood that spurted forth, there grew a red rose bush. Since then, it has been the custom in Catalonia to present a rose to your loved one.

Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia, as well as England and other countries, became the symbol of Catalonia during the Renaixença, a nineteenth century political and cultural movement that sought to reclaim the symbols of Catalan identity."

The more likely “true” story is that George was actually a Roman soldier, who lived in the 4th century.  He was canonized after becoming a martyr for having Christian beliefs.

He went on to become a star among saints and is the patron saint of England, Greece, and Romania and Georgia among others. 

Whatever the story, the tradition in modern day Barcelona and Catalonia is that 23rd April is dedicated to romance. For one day the men get to be knights again.  Nowadays they forego the dragon slaying bit and skip straight to the rose giving part.

Bad news if your mother-in-law is a dragon, but on Sant Jordi’s day on 23rd April, all the girls and your mothe in law,  deserve a long stemmed red rose decorated with a sprig of wheat and a little red and yellow "senyera", the symbol of four red stripes on a golden background, which is the Catalonian flag along with the message “t'estimo," which means “I love you” in Catalan.

Every female hopes for a rose on Sant Jordi’s day and it has become a custom to also give roses at work and to friends, even if the prices are several hundred percent above normal.

In 1923 someone enterprising had the thoroughly modern idea of giving the guys a present too. Why not a book? Not perhaps the first choice, had the guys been consulted, but nevertheless far better than nothing.

And so the tradition of rose giving was expanded to include the girls giving men a book.

This also coincides nicely with the celebration of the World Book Day which falls on the same day as Sant Jordi’s day on 23rd April.

And the 23rd April is the anniversary of both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes’ death.

They both died on the same day, namely 23rd April in 1616, although in actual fact Cervantes' death was 10 days earlier because Spain was using the Gregarian calendar at the time, while England used the Julian calendar, and the two calendars are slightly different.

Sant Jordi's day is not an official public holiday in Catalonia, but everyone gets to slack off a bit on this dreamy spring day, when almost 5 million roses will exchange hands and much kissing will take place.  Very nice tradition.

On St Georges's day in Barcelona it is traditional to walk down  the famous La Rambla pedestrian street in the Barri Gotic.

But you don't need to go to La Rambla to find roses. Flower booths sprout up all over the city, especially at the Metro stations,  so gents, don’t even think about trying to say you couldn’t find a rose seller, or that the roses were all gone! You will be the one slain and not the dragon!

Many of the flowers stalls on Las Ramblas support good causes, which is something to consider, when choosing where to buy a rose and when handing over the quite steep average price of 3-5 euros per rose. (2008 prices)

Sant Jordi is a nice day for good will and the Barcelona City Council have a campaign called "Sant Jordi viene a casa" - "Sant Jordi visits the home." Between 22 and April 23 2009, this campaign will give 5,100 free roses to the elderly and others in home care! A very nice gesture.

The City Council has also made "El Gran Libro de Sant Jordi" which is a 300 page large format book handmade by artists, where citizens can leave a Sant Jordi inspired message. You can find this book in the "Saló de Cent del Ayuntamiento" which is a magnificent hall in the town hall on Plaça de Sant Jaume. The Salo de Cent is not normally open to the public except on special days like Sant Jordi.

Along many other major streets of Barcelona like the Passeig de Gracia, you will also find book stands and in the centre some will feature book readings and book signings by famous Spanish and Catalan authors. 

St. Jordi's is  really a nice day so if you are in Barcelona - enjoy!

Visit Barcelona St Jordi site of Barcelona (usually online in April)

Find sculptures of St. Jordi in Barcelona here:

Facade of the Catalan Generalitat on Placa Jaume.

Facade of Casa Amatller. Passeig de Gràcia 41 - Eusebi Arnau’s sculpture of Sant Jordi

Corner facade of Els Quatre Gats café, Barcelona

Façade of Gaudi’s Casa Batlló on Passeig de Gracia 43.  Some say that this is based on the theme on Sant Jordi with the cross of the saint spearing in the scaly roof, which symbolizes the dragon.  If you can see that they youcan imagine the bones of the dragon's victims framing the windows of the Caca Batllo’s facade.

  Address of Casa Batllo in Barcelona
  Address of Casa Amatller in Barcelona
  Pictures of Casa Batllo.


Have a happy Sant Jordi's day!