The rose of ARA Balears and everything you need to know about Sant Jordi 2026 in Palma

PalmPalma celebrates this Sant Jordi with more spaces, more activities, and the inclusion of flower shops. Under the slogan ‘Sant Jordi, books and roses everywhere’, the celebration takes a step further this year in its expansion and aims to reach more points in the city.

In this context, ARA Balears will once again distribute its rose in Palma's bookstores. The piece, designed this year by artist Pep Llambías, will be given along with a copy of the weekly newspaper to all those who buy a book on April 23rd at participating stands.

Llambías, who has a long-standing relationship with this symbol, emphasizes the duality of the rose. “It combines fragility and beauty with the thorn and all the double meanings this generates,” he explains. The piece features the phrase ‘The wait is the paper rose’, an idea that connects with his way of understanding art: to observe, dismantle, and reconstruct meanings. The artist, who has roses planted in his backyard, admits that it is a recurring element in his work and that he is particularly interested in them when they wilt, as a metaphor for the passage of time and waiting.

On the main day of the festival, April 23rd, the city will once again be filled with books with stands from 24 bookstores, open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. They will be distributed along the main axes of the city center —Plaza de España, Calle de Sant Miquel, Plaza Mayor, Calle del Marqués del Palmer, Plaza de Cort, and La Rambla— and will host more than 150 author signings throughout the day. As usual, a 10% discount will be applied to book purchases.

Florist shops

One of the most visible novelties of this 2026 is the incorporation of six flower shops to the traditional route, a fact that reinforces the presence of the rose and amplifies the festive character of the streets. The initiative is promoted by the Gremi de Llibreters de Mallorca, the Consell de Mallorca, the Ajuntament de Palma, Pimeco and, for the first time, the Associació de Floristes.

The commitment to expand the festival also translates into decentralization. This year, a preliminary day has been held in the neighborhoods with activities in spaces such as the Plaza de París, the Plaza del Progrés and Calle de Nuredduna. There have been book and flower stalls, storytellers and entertainment with the giants Tom and Rosa, accompanied by the band Final Feliç, with the aim of bringing the Diada closer to new audiences.

Beyond the central day, the program includes almost a hundred activities throughout the week, with book presentations, workshops, reading clubs and family proposals, organized with the participation of bookstores, institutions and cultural entities such as the Institut d’Estudis Baleàrics.

Beyond Palma

The Sant Jordi impetus, however, is not limited to Palma. Throughout the Balearic Islands, bookstores and municipalities have been preparing for weeks for a celebration that has established itself as one of the key moments of the year for the sector. In Ibiza, for example, the Mediterrània bookstore sets up stalls in various parts of the island in the days following April 23rd, while in Mallorca, towns like Inca also take to the streets and adapt the festival to the local calendar.

In Menorca, Ciutadella and Maó maintain a celebration that combines book sales, cultural activities, and community involvement. All of this, in a context where the Balearic Islands continue to have one of the lowest bookstore rates in the country, with just over fifty establishments, almost half of which are concentrated in Palma.

The day in the Mallorcan capital will conclude with a concert by the group Nou Romancer, at 8:00 PM in Plaça de l'Olivar, with the collaboration of Obra Cultural Balear.

With this expansion, Sant Jordi consolidates its growth as one of the most outstanding cultural events on the calendar and reinforces its presence in the streets, with more agents involved and a clear desire to reach the entire city and beyond.