An island of bookstores in the Eixample

Suddenly, almost without the public noticing, something is changing in the heart of the Eixample district. In 2014, the historic Librería Catalonia, located on Ronda Sant Pere, closed. In its early years, its facade optimistically proclaimed that the world was ruled by books. It was swiftly replaced by a fast-food chain that decorated its interior columns with faux modernist mosaics. Its departure coincided with a perfect storm that devastated the center of Barcelona, between the end of the Urban Leasing Law, a change in cultural habits, and the colonization of this entire crucial area, with Passeig de Gràcia as its paradigm, by clothing brands located in key areas of the old town and the busiest areas of the Eixample, stripped of their former identity in pursuit of the dreaded theme park for the greater glory of tourism.

However, the news from 2025 seems to reverse the disaster of years like 2012, when bookstores like Áncora y Delfín and the Librería General de Arte closed abruptly. In recent months, a new La Central has opened at 314 Consell de Cent, and the Finestres Group has announced the opening of a third establishment at 253 of its stronghold on Diputació Street. On the cultural front, the Carmen Thyssen Museum, scheduled for 2027, is also scheduled to open in the former Comedia cinema.

The year 2025 seems to reverse the disaster of 2012, when Áncora y Delfín or the Librería General de Arte closed.

This new trilogy has revived a too-overlooked possibility in the Catalan capital: the creation of cultural islands that concentrate the offerings. The first, without any publicity, is on Montjuïc, packed with museum spaces from its base to the heights of the castle.

The second is imperfect and disorganized, almost like a flood that could start in Plaza Urquinaona, spearheaded by the Borràs Theater, rise through Pau Claris with the Laie and Ona bookstores, and then spread out in all directions. If we limit its boundaries to Balmes and Roger de Llúria, two of its closures would be, respectively, the centennial Alibri, now owned by Bookish, and Documenta, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

In between, listing all the cultural facilities and businesses would yield a hopeful balance between theaters, museums like La Pedrera and the Fundació Tàpies, and the galleries that have survived their former splendor on Consell de Cent Street. And a total of 15 bookstores.

In fact, for booksellers, speaking of a cultural island is incorrect because, as Àurea Perelló, director of the Finestres bookstore, insists, it's more of an island focused on books, which, as Marta Ramoneda, director of La Central, agrees, are currently a rare bird in a city center increasingly invaded by carton shops, ice cream parlors, 24-hour supermarkets, and cosmetic stores of dubious quality. Ramoneda explains that, in her case, the choice of a new bookstore in Consell de Cent wasn't driven by the convenience of the newly created super island or a desire for central location, but rather by a market opportunity: a client, the owner of the store, preferred them to occupy the space. It wasn't, she emphasizes, a matter of proximity to La Central on Mallorca Street or a plot twist to increase the visibility of the Feltrinelli group. The cause was practical, which confirms the spontaneity of the entire group, each with its own stamp and its customers, according to Eric del Arco, head of Documenta and president of the Gremi de Llibreters, very much a neighborhood because bookstores remain so despite their location, which also doesn't have to harm other businesses that supply readers outside this area of the Eixample.

The difference, those interviewed agree, is that the agglomeration has now created synergies. If a title is unavailable at their trusted store, the booksellers, in a mechanism that Marta Ramoneda describes as very effective in uniting this unexpected network, inform the customer of its availability at another, thus activating a map that is not yet institutionalized but that, little by little, is beginning to operate at full speed and could do so even more so if the City Council understood this twist, assisting it in yet another installment of Barcelona's collaboration between the public and private sectors. In this way, the stock of all the bookstores is shared, even though each one cherishes its own niche. In the conversation, Perelló explains how the third Finestres unifies and adds coherence to the project, which, except for its bookstore in Palamós, has no interest in going beyond Diputació Street, ideal for establishing connections not only with its counterparts, since it is well aware that its function does not end in the Eixample district, surrounded by other cultural hubs.

At La Central in Consell de Cent, open despite its official opening on September 17, many tourists simply browse. The English-language book section is on the left, just after entering. Marta Ramoneda takes in the context. She explains that at La Central in Raval, expats have made the bar their own, absent from the third branch of the bookstore specializing in the Humanities, which is looking for a new location in Madrid comparable to the one they had in Callao.

In recent months, a new La Central has opened and the Finestres Group has announced another establishment.

In Finestres, Àurea Perelló asserts, the catalogue of original language literature is very powerful, as it is inherent to the group's idea, which at no point overlooks the presence of strong foreign communities in Barcelona, which, like the Italian community, have a catalogue that is anything but anecdotal.

Since this island is the fruit of individual commercial interests, it's only fair to wonder if it could have a promising future, especially considering such a specific proposal. Del Arco concludes that "the book sector is characterized by its poor health. We can't predict what will happen. In this environment, there are bookstores that belong to publishing groups, such as La Casa del Libro to Planeta and La Central to Feltrinelli, while others, like Laie, have shops in museums, and some are funded by patronage, such as Ona or Finestres, without forgetting those where the owner works, such as Jaimes, Altair Viatges, Come in, La Impossible, or us, Documenta. Cities are very dynamic, and this current boom can be surprising. It already happened in Gràcia. Trends come and go, which makes the future unpredictable."