Alongside two large companies, coexists a constellation of small publishing houses. Like other fields in the creative industry, the book sector has seen itself involved in a process of corporate acquisition whose latest chapter, ....

until now, has been written by the publishing house Salamandra, swooped up a little over a month ago by Penguin Random House. In this way, the Barcelona label became part of an already large family, to which Debate, Lumen, Taurus, Alfaguara, Plaze &Janés, Grijalbo and Ediciones B already belong. The other pole of the business is led by Planeta, which counts Destino, Tusquets, Seix Barral, Ariel, Temas de Hoy, Espasa, Minotauro and Crítica in its stable. The Spanish book industry has thus remained in the hands of two giants and a constellation of medium and small companies.

The concentration in the publishing world is a global phenomenon which follows the same rules as any other economic sector. It is about acquiring companies in order to increase business volume and hence, reinforce one’s position in a market where multi-nationals such as Amazon are playing an increasingly relevant role, moreover, covering all areas: from bestsellers to select, low volume or books specializing in a wide variety of subjects.

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