The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and AC/E’s Director of Programming, Inmaculada Ballesteros, have announced in Barcelona the details of a delegation that will feature 50 authors and a 500-square-meter pavilion inspired by Burle Marx.

Barcelona, 07/17/2026 — The Ministry of Culture and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) presented today at the Archives of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona the official program for Spain’s participation as the Guest of Honour at the 28th Bienal Internacional do Livro de São Paulo. The literary gathering, one of the most prominent on the international circuit, will take place in the Brazilian city from September 4 to 13, 2026, under the slogan ‘Confluencias’ (Confluences).

The presentation ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun; AC/E’s Director of Programming, Inmaculada Ballesteros; the Director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero; the Director General for Books, María José Gálvez; the President of the Câmara Brasileira do Livro, Sevani Matos; and writer Marta Sanz, curator of the literary program.

Spain's participation is coordinated by the Directorate General for Books, Comics, and Reading of the Ministry of Culture, with direct collaboration from AC/E, the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and the Federation of Spanish Publishers' Guilds (FGEE).

A dialogue between two shores through 50 authors

Curator Marta Sanz explained that the concept of ‘Confluencias’ embodies the desire for exchange and interrelation between both countries, using the rolling, wavy pavements designed by landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx on either side of the Atlantic as a powerful visual metaphor. Building on this equilibrium, the programming pairs themes and names from the latest Spanish literature with the Brazilian cultural milestones that have left the deepest mark on the Hispanic imagination.

The Spanish delegation will consist of 50 authors representing the vast linguistic, generational, and generic diversity of contemporary Spanish writing. Renowned names such as Bernardo Atxaga, Xesús Fraga, Alana S. Portero, Carlos Zanón, Elena Medel, Isaac Rosa, Katixa Agirre, Gemma Ruiz Palà, Sabina Urraca, and Elvira Navarro will participate in thirty scheduled panel sessions. These debates will tackle contemporary trends such as the transgression of identities, autofiction, democratic memory, ecology, and the critical revision of history. Additionally, several members of the delegation will extend the cultural conversation by traveling to different Instituto Cervantes branches across Brazil.

An open pavilion and a multidisciplinary cultural agenda

The Spain Pavilion, designed by PeiPe Estudio SL at the Distrito Anhembi exhibition venue, will span 500 square meters. The space is conceived as a continuous landscape inspired by Burle Marx’s mosaics, structured to house a book exhibition area, a sector for professional meetings and rights trading, and an independent auditorium.

In the words of Inmaculada Ballesteros, AC/E’s Director of Programming: “We want the pavilion to be an open, contemporary, and welcoming space; a place where established authors and new voices coexist alongside major publishing houses and independent projects, thought, creation, illustration, children's literature, essays, poetry, and narrative fiction.”

The literary line-up will be complemented by an ambitious cultural and artistic agenda:

Visual Arts: The pavilion will host an installation of 20 photographs from the exhibition ‘Palmira Puig / Marcel Giró. Humanism in Brazilian Modernist Photography’, the main body of which will be displayed at the Instituto Cervantes in São Paulo to honor Spanish Republican exiles. Furthermore, the ‘El Thyssen te visita’ project will bring high-quality reproductions of masterpieces from the museum to public spaces across the city.

Music and Poetry: The fair will feature eight multilingual poetry nights and a special tribute marking the centenary of José Manuel Caballero Bonald. Live music will be provided by Sheila Blanco (performing her tribute to the women poets of the Generation of '27) and jazz selections from saxophonist Carles Margarit.

Training and Professional Sector: The schedule includes comic book masterclasses, translation workshops, and children's activities. On the commercial front, Spain’s primary industry associations (FGEE, FANDE, and CEGAL) will spearhead B2B professional meetings and the publishing rights market.

Links of interest

Download Dossier de España en la Bienal do Livro de São Paulo (PDF)

Check Programa General de la Bienal de São Paulo