Liber 2024 confirms its importance as a lever for Spanish publishing exports

Liber closes its 42nd edition at Fira Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, confirming its importance as an effective commercial platform for the export of Spanish books, since it is estimated that it generates a third of the year’s foreign sales. This figure is the result of the intense activity at the stands and the more than 5,200 business meetings with hosted buyers from all over the world through the internationalisation programmes to close purchase orders at the fair.

In addition to opening up foreign markets for books, Liber has also been an important meeting point for professionals linked to the Spain’s main cultural industry. The fair, which was attended by more than 250 publishers from 13 countries, enabled them to contact their suppliers or customers, find out about catalogues and new publications, as well as products and services related to the production, marketing and distribution of books. It is estimated that more than 6,500 people have visited Liber.

The president of the FGEE and of the Liber organising committee, Daniel Fernández, celebrated the success of this edition at a sweet moment for books: ‘Liber has once again been the great meeting point for the Spanish book sector. The open negotiations and agreements reached these days at the fair with buyers from all over the world will have a very positive impact on our industry’s foreign trade figures. In addition, we have been able to discuss the issues that are the concerns and occupations of the sector”.

Liber has also stood out as a forum for debate on different areas of the book industry. At its Professional Conferences, with more than 75 sessions attended by nearly 2,000 people, the impact of artificial intelligence on the publishing industry, intellectual property, sustainability, printing on demand, as well as legislation and accessibility to digital content, among other topics, were discussed.

It should also be noted that yesterday the fair presented the Liber Awards at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya to the director of the Spanish Royal Academy in his role as author, Santiago Muñoz; the publisher and bookseller, Miguel García (Machado Libros); the Onda Cero radio programme ‘La cultureta’; the Espazo Lectura project in Pontevedra; the Gil bookshop in Santander; and the film ‘El maestro que prometió el mar’ (The teacher who promised the sea).

Liber 2024 has been sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, and the Centro Español de Derechos Reprográficos (CEDRO). Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), the Gremi d’Editors de Catalunya and the Associació d’Editors en Llengua Catalana also collaborated.

The next edition of Liber will be held from 1 to 3 October 2025 in Madrid and Chile will be the guest country.

Celebration alongside Graphispag
For its part, the Graphics Industry and Visual Communication Show, Graphispag, which was held alongside Liber, also closed a successful edition, showing the latest graphic technology in operation and how printing can add value when customising any object and surface. The emblematic trade fair brought together close to a hundred exhibitors and some 11,500 professionals.

This co-celebration took advantage of the synergies between the graphic arts and the publishing world, given that 95% of book sales are on paper. Thus, almost 18,000 people visited both shows, which, organised by Fira de Barcelona, were held from Tuesday to Thursday in Pavilion 2 of the Gran Via venue.

Barcelona, 3rd October 2024

Images (Liber edition 2024) here

Images (Graphispag edition 2024) here

Maria Dolores Herranz / Gloria Dilluvio
Tel. 93 233 25 41 – 2172
mdherranz@firabarcelona.com
gdilluvio@firabarcelona.com