Less than two years after launch, an online rights platform for the Spanish-language markets is closing. And a veteran observer questions the industry’s commitment to digital.

At the time, Publishing Perspectives’ coverage referred to some 79,000 titles having been published in Spain in 2014, close to 200,000 more in Latin America, and a Spanish-language publishing market valued at €6 billion (US$6.8 billion).

Spanish Bookstage was created by two Barcelona literary agents, Martina Torrades and Anna Ascolies, and took its place beside other rights-trading platforms, including IPR License(which has just rolled out its Instant Rights functionality) and PubMatch.

But what you find today on its homepage is a link to a “closure announcement” that spells out the news in an English and Spanish note from Ascolies and Torrades: “In spite of the support and trust we have received from many professionals and institutions who believed in the project right from the start and to whom we are very grateful, The Spanish Bookstage finds itself forced to cease business activities at the end of July.”

Read more here