Until March 21st, the 32nd Annual Antique Book Festival is being held on the Gran Vía Marqués. There are a surprisingly large number of vendors set up, and if you like books, this is an event you really shouldn’t pass up. It’s not just “antique” books either, despite the name — you can get really good deals on second hand novels and comics. Browsing is a blast, especially on a sunny day.

- Come for Fallas

Valencia’s old city center has a starring role in a new 48-page comic by Ana Miralles and Emilio Ruiz, called De mano en mano. The story follows a €20 bill as it passes to various people throughout the city’s streets and homes.

The comic has received good reviews from the few sites I’ve looked at, and uses its central gimmick to explore the social and economic issues of the city. Valencia is the setting, and the artists recreate a lot of city highlights, such as the Plaza de la Virgen.

Currently available for order, the book costs €18 from publisher Edicions de Ponent. Or wait until it comes to the library!

[Via Levante]

- Spanish Comics Here

Until May 3rd, the annual book fair, the Fira del Llibre de València will be held in the Viveros Gardens (location). We went last year and can report: there were a lot of books! And unless some crazy surrealist group has taken over the book festival’s organization, I’m sure you can count on a lot of books this year, too.

The fair is open from 11 to 14h, and in the eventings from 17 to 21h. There are numerous activities and events scheduled throughout each day, though they’ll all be in Valencian or Castellano.

They have a website, firallibre.com, but as of the time of writing this post, it is extremely busted. Come on, guys!

Pics & Information from Last Year’s Fair
Location on our Valencia Map

I like books. And since it was time to buy a new one, I decided to check out the store which had been passing out free paperbacks during the recent Book Fair in the Viveros Gardens. (Free stuff: Marketing that works!)

FNAC is a popular French bookstore chain that has expanded to Spain. It’s actually more of a media store, as I realized immediately upon entering the outlet on Guillem De Castro (location). The facade is pretty nondescript — just a simple black and white sign. I’ve walked by a thousand times, and never noticed it before; I probably just assumed it had something to do with finance.

The store’s interior resembles a train station, with a glass roof spilling light onto 2 floors of books, music, films and electronics. It makes extremely pleasant browsing… and the prices are nice, too.

And what does FNAC stand for? Who knows?! Probably something French.

FNAC
C/ Guillem De Castro 9-11
Website: FNAC.es
Location on our Valencia Map

In Valencia, Libreria Patagonia is the only bookstore you’ll ever need for maps, travel guides or hiking supplies. I stumbled upon this wonderful shop last week, and nearly dropped a hundred euros. Trembling, I forced myself to set down the stack of maps and books I had gathered, and left empty-handed.

3 days later I came back and emptied my wallet

The shelves are full of books about Valencia and the surrounding area. There’s an entire section just for books on the Pyrenees. And the whole back wall is stacked with travel guides.

Slobber

The shop is found in the city center, at Calle Hospital, 1 (location) Their website exists, but is still under construction.

Juergen and I caught the hiking bug during our time in Ireland, so I have a feeling we’ll be frequent patrons of Libreria Patagonia.