Sant Jordi: when roses and books fill Catalonia with color and culture.

According to the legend, once upon a time there was a dragon that threatened a little village where a princess lived in. Some day, the dragon was about to kill the princess when a brave knight known as Sant Jordi (Saint George) arrived to the village to fight the beast. After a long and hard fight, Sant Jordi sank his lance into the dragon's body, who eventually dropped down dead. The legend tells that from the blood dripped from the dragon, a beautiful rose appeared. Sant Jordi took the rose and gave it to the princess.

Nice, isn't it? Well, the legend is a little bit childish but it is actually a tale for children. Anyway, every April 23rd Catalonia celebrates Sant Jordi's day, and, to follow the tradition, men give a rose to their princesses, who can be either wives, girlfriends, mothers, grandmothers, etc... On the other hand, since April 23rd is also the International Book Day, people also give books, so altogether leads bookstores and flower shops to set up one-day little street markets where people can buy books and roses. Sant Jordi's day also carries a lot of Catalan symbolism which makes cities and towns around Catalonia to be washed of senyeres (the Catalan flag with four red bands on a golden background).