The XXXI edition of the Book Fair of Guadalajara, where Madrid was the guest of honor, has come to a close. The figures are mind-boggling: 20,000 publishing professionals; 2,000 publishing houses; 400,000 titles; ......
700 authors from 21 countries (Madrid brought about 200); 34,000 square meters, and more than 800,000 visitors. For a neophyte, the International Book Fair of Guadalajara (FIL) is nothing but a maelstrom of people (the overwhelming majority of whom are young) asking, walking, listening and paying for what has become the biggest annual event in Guadalajara and, with Frankfurt’s, the most gargantuan book fair in the world. Twenty-four hours after its closure, at the home of Raúl Padilla, president of FIL, surrounded by authors who, staying true to stereotypes, downed tequila with largesse, Marisol Schulz – the fair director – refused to quote exact figures, but said that she was sure that they had broken all previous records, and expressed her happiness at having Madrid as this year’s guest star: «This will definitely bear fruit in the long term.»
