While the shop windows are filled with discounts and accelerated consumption, more than 60 bookstores from all over Spain -and some parts of Europe- celebrate an alternative marked by the pause, reading and face-to-face meeting between readers, booksellers and writers. From November 29 to December 1, a new edition of Book Friday returns, the literary festival that vindicates the “encounters without discounts”.
The event, created by Hugo Prestel -third generation bookseller of Cuesta de Moyano- and developed since 2023 by the citizens’ association Soy de la Cuesta, returns with an expanded program, new venues and a clear mission: to defend the material and human value of reading against the digital and unsustainable consumption of Black Friday.
A festival with top-level writers
In this III edition, Book Friday will feature the participation of renowned authors such as Sergio del Molino, Alice Kellen, Lana Corujo, Patricio Pron, Marcos Giralt Torrente, Javier Sierra, Elisa Fernández Guzmán, Adriana Murad Konings, Esther Ferrero, Pablo Cerezo, Laura Piñero, Berta Vías Mahou and Helena Mariño, among others. During the weekend, attendees will be able to enjoy talks, presentations, collective readings and meetings in bookstores, libraries and cultural centers throughout the country.
Rewarding reading loyalty
Instead of discounts, participating bookstores will give each customer a number to participate in a drawing for 240 € in books, redeemable in the bookstores themselves until December 30. A symbolic way of rewarding loyal readers and keeping the network of independent booksellers alive.
A program that grows and expands
Book Friday 2025 expands horizons and for the first time reaches penitentiary centers such as those in Soto del Real, Valdemoro and Seville, as well as social and educational spaces such as the El Fanal Library (La Cañada Real), the C.E.I.P. Andalucía (Polígono Sur, Seville) and the El Laurel Juvenile Center (Madrid). This is a way of bringing reading closer to where it can be most transforming.
The program also incorporates new collaborators and cultural spaces such as La Casa Encendida, Metro de Madrid -which will host a book sale and author signings at Nuevos Ministerios station on Friday, November 28 from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm-, the public libraries of the Community of Madrid, the province of Salamanca and the Museo Casa Natal de Cervantes in Alcalá de Henares.
Activities for all ages
Families will also have their space in the festival, with proposals such as the literary capsule workshop by Chiquitectos and El sonido del proyector, a tribute to silent films, electronic music and literature created by Fran Nuño. Activities designed for children and adults that reinforce the idea that books are living objects, capable of connecting generations and emotions.