International Day of Aids, International Day of you name it and today is the International Book Day, uncoherently only in some countries. A quick browse on the net and surprisingly the first website I click on and it's 6th March they state as the World Book Day in UK and Ireland(I wonder if is it the same as the Int'l Day of Books?) What makes it international? What does 'international' refer to?
23rd of April was so declared by the Unesco a few years ago, in 1995, in honour to Shakespeare and Cervantes, who both died on this date and it is just in a few countries which do give it some kind of relevance to this fact.
Has St Jordi's day become too commercial? It is the typical statement about Christmas, about Father's and Mother's days and a long list of you name it Days. But why aren't we questioning this today? It may be because it is a good idea to encourage reading. It may well also be because it is good business for publishers and so, it feeds the industry on grounds of a culturally positive thing, too. Yet, what I would love to know is whether the thousands of books that are sold today in the outdoors stalls the bookshops set up on the streets and "paseos" are actually read at some point. Maybe they just sit on the bookshelves as a contribution to the industry, an unwanted title, just the expected token of love, the giver aware that it may never be read.
As opposed to the the price of roses, books are sold with a 10% discount. However, roses, the other token of love on this day, are sold at an extortionate 3.5€ at least. Make long-lasting culture, expensive as it is, more affordable and withering roses more expensive.
To me, unromantic as I may be, it is more like a celebration of spring time. Flowers, green, and books to read sitting down on park benches under a pleasant warm sun. The date, regardless of Cervantes' death, is just a suitable spring date to celebrate it.