Barcelona's 'St George' book-and-flower fair to go ahead on July 23

After the annual festival to celebrate the saint known as George in England and Jordi in Catalunya was called off due to the Covid-19 crisis in April, most of the region had resigned themselves to having to wait a full year for the next one, even though Spain's second-largest city had floated the idea of staging it in July instead.

And Barcelona council has opted to go ahead after all – but, of course, with stringent rules in place, numbers limited, and the public urged to follow it online if they can rather than attending in person.

The patron saint of Catalunya and of England has less to do with dragons in the former than in the latter – according to legend, on April 23, people were supposed to give their loved ones, sweethearts, and potential partners a book, a flower, or both.

This is because two of Europe's greatest and most famous literary names – playwright and poet William Shakespeare, and Don Quijote author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – both died on April 23, 1616.

Curiously, they did not actually pass away on the same day: Cervantes, aged 69, departed the mortal coil 10 days before Shakespeare, who was 52; but as Spain was by then using the Gregorian calendar – the one most of the world uses today – and England was still 'behind the times' and going by the Julian calendar, April 23 came 10 days later in England than it did in Spain, meaning their death dates are the same.

International Book Day and St George's Day coming on the same date eventually became the perfect excuse for Barcelona's streets to fill with flower stalls and book stands – second-hand editions and also brand-new publications and current bestsellers, with the city's bookshops bringing their wares out onto the main boulevards in the centre.

Authors – usually a couple of international ones as well as many of Spain's top writers – are frequently on site to sign copies of their works.

Spanish bestselling authors in recent years have included Fernando Aramburu, Dolores Redondo, Lucía Etxebarría, Ildefonso Falcones, Rosa Montero, Eduardo Mendoza, Elísabet Benavent, 'Blue Jeans', and 'Megan Maxwell' – the latter two being noms de plume – and international writers have included British historian Mary Beard, Irish 'serious chick-lit' writer Marian Keyes, Norwegian-American Siri Hustvedt, and Italy's Federico Moccia.

What's different this year

Firstly, the obvious: The date. Exactly three months on from St George's, or Sant Jordi's Day, this year's book-and-flower fair will be held on July 23, which falls on a Thursday.

The festival will focus almost entirely on the Passeig de Gràcia – one of Barcelona's main shopping streets – but will not spread out as much to side streets as it usually does.

Stalls will be reduced to 70% of the normal total, and queues for books to be signed by authors will be capped at 30.

The entire fair area will be roped off, book signings will take place right in front of the bookshops which have invited the authors or 'as close as possible' to their entrance, and will be by appointment, by contacting the shops.

If readers just want a signed copy but are less bothered about actually seeing the author in person, they can place orders for an autographed edition at the bookshops from the Monday before, July 20.

Only authorised traders will be allowed to hold stalls, meaning there will be no members of the public setting up stands to sell off their pre-loved books or the flowers they grow in their gardens.

Entrances and exits to the fair zone will be separate from each other, and monitored to ensure social distancing and to check everyone is wearing a mask – which is compulsory.

Visitors may be reorganised into lines or groups as required.

It is likely some of the stallholders who apply to do so will be given licence to stay open much later than usual, to give the public more opportunities of visiting and avoid large crowds within limited hours.

Hand sanitiser dispensers will be set up, and naturally, everyone will be required to keep a minimum of 1.5 metres (about five feet) away from anyone else who is not part of their friend or family group or household.