The Malaga Book Fair 2025 closes a longer edition with increased sales: "There will be a slight increase"

Walking through the Book Fair this Sunday, something different was sensed. Among the book lovers who wanted to visit the booths and the tourists surprised by this literary display at Paseo del Parque, some booksellers began to pack up some of the books. The 54th edition of the Book Fair ends this Sunday after twelve days of great new features: more booths, from 54 in 2024 to 65 this year; more days, twelve; more books; a bridge and a White Night during its celebration.

From April 30 to May 11, the Book Fair has once again made a strong comeback at Paseo del Parque – for the second consecutive year – and the event director, Manuel García Iborra, is more than positive about it. "Last year was the transition to Paseo del Parque and this year we have consolidated ourselves. We are at least going to match last year's figures, but I imagine there will be at least a slight increase since this year, due to the late celebration of Easter, we had two more days of fair. But the official results will make the real assessment and we hope to have them before mid-week," Iborra explained in a conversation with SUR.

At the Luces booth, the bookstore manager, José Antonio Ruiz, insists it has been a "magnificent" edition. "In numbers, it was very similar to last year's, even better because we had more booth space and we were able to make it very nice. Although today is a day of assessment and starting to pack up the booths," said the manager, who admits that, although he prefers the Marina as the space for the Book Fair, Paseo del Parque "is a good place for sales."

At Proteo, they talk about a 5% increase in sales compared to last year. This is reported to SUR by the director, Jesús Otaola: "Last year was already a big increase, but this year is even better. The conclusion from this is that the decision to return to Paseo del Parque is the right one. Moreover, it's incredible how many people have walked through the Book Fair this year, which gives us a lot of encouragement. And to think that years ago we thought it was going to disappear...," he recalls.

From disappearing to consolidating

Manuel García Iborra, the event director, refers to the same thing, looking back at 2017 when he arrived and assessing the "great evolution" that the Book Fair has undergone to become one of the major cultural events in the city. "We've gone from 15 booths in 2016 to 65 this year. That is one of the goals of the project we had, we don't need to go back to a hundred booths, sometimes disproportionate growth is not always positive. We come from having some good years in the sector, let's see if the following ones will allow us to continue," the director of the Book Fair points out. "It's important that we don't lose the support of the institutions to be able to continue," Jesús Otaola emphasizes.

In his analysis, the director of Proteo, perceives "more influx of foreigners, but not with a significant increase in English books." When talking about the audience, he positively values the passion for reading among young people: "I've talked a lot about this with my colleagues these days, there are many young people who love books and are loyal to good editions; they not only seek a good read, but also a good edition that brings them something physical," explains Otaola, who has experienced almost 40 editions of the Book Fair.

The usual model is ten days, but this year the change of date has caused it to be more: "There are even some who fantasize about the Book Fair lasting three weeks, but that would have to be studied very well...," confesses Manuel García Iborra. After coinciding for the first time with a White Night, this Sunday of books is being a bit quieter although there are always those last sales of the afternoon that bring joy: "Those who arrive today do not come to look for any book, it is the book that finds them," assures Jesús Otaola.