Barcelona will be the guest city at the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara (FIL), which will take place between November 29 and December 7 in the capital of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Nine full days where, in addition to cultural and literary exchange, activities related to science will also be organized in the FIL Ciencia section. All of this as an extension of the 4th edition of the City and Science Biennial (Biennal Ciutat i Ciència), which will be held simultaneously in Barcelona and Madrid between December 18 and 23.

Presentation at the Saló de Cent

The presentation of this collaboration between Barcelona and Mexico took place in the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Council, with the participation of Mayor Jaume Collboni, the president of FIL Trinidad Padilla, its director, Marisol Schulz and the journalist and curator of the program, Anna Guitart. The mayor stressed the importance of this new presence “to strengthen the many links that exist between Catalonia and Mexico, based on shared culture”. And he stated that the events that are planned, beyond the literary field “are an exponent of the city’s creative talent from thought and science, two areas in which Barcelona wants to make a difference and wants to be recognized”.

Anna Guitart, for her part, stressed that Barcelona’s presence in Guadalajara “is just a first seed to be able to make the city even more present in future editions of the FIL”. For his part, Trinidad Padilla, president of this Book Fair, has assured that the Catalan participation “represents more than a tribute to a literary city. It is the intervention of a capital of thought, art, music and books, committed to creativity, equality and cohesion.”

 FIL Ciencia

During the 9 days of the Fair, Barcelona will have its own pavilion, with a total of 1,183 square meters, with porticoed facades, which reinforce the idea of ​​a square and reclaim public space. Within this, a bookstore will be located that will contain a total of 10,000 volumes of works produced in the Barcelona area. Barcelona proposes for FIL Ciencia the participation of some outstanding voices from the city’s scientific ecosystem, which will be the following:

– Anna Sanpera: ICREA research professor in the Quantum Information group of the UAB.

– Eva Vidal: PhD in Telecommunications Engineering, specialized in ethics and technology, sustainability and international cooperation.

– Gemma Marfany: researcher and professor at the Universitat de Barcelona. Specialist in molecular evolution and analysis of the genetic and molecular bases of hereditary human diseases.

– Helena González-Burón: doctor in biomedicine, specialized in molecular mechanisms of DNA repair and cancer epigenetics.

– Ignasi Ribas: director of the Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) and research professor at the Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (ICE-CSIC).

– Mara Dierssen: neurobiologist, and leader of the Dierssen Lab at the Centre de Regulació Genòmica of the Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona.

– Marc Güell: ICREA researcher, professor at the UPF and leader of SYNBIO Translational Synthetic Biology.

– Pere Estupinyà: popularizer and writer. Author of several books.

– Salvador Macip: researcher at the UOC and the Josep Carreras Institute IJC of Can Ruti.

– Toni Pou: physicist, writer, science journalist and curator of the City and Science Biennial 2025.

The FIL Guadalajara

The Guadalajara International Book Fair was created in 1987 and is celebrating its 39th edition this year. It is organized by the Universidad de Guadalajara and according to the data from the last edition, around 900.000 visitors, 18.100 professionals from the literary field and more than 2.000 journalists pass through it.

Its inaugural motto is to consider culture as a bridge between nations that acts as a link and weaves ties between the communities that make up the global world. Throughout its history, it has collaborated several times with localities or regions of the Spanish state such as Andalusia, Castile or Madrid. And specifically in 2004 it had Catalonia as Guest of Honor.

In total, the Catalan participation in this 39th FIL has a budget of 3,5 million euros, contributed by the tourist tax, the Generalitat de Catalunya and the public society Acción Cultural Española.

 Biennal Ciutat i Ciència

The City and Science Biennial 2025 complements the extensive programming that will be held simultaneously in Barcelona and Madrid with the extension to Mexico, through FIL Ciencia and other initiatives with the aim of expanding international collaboration and projecting Barcelona as a city of science.