Are we running out of bookstores?
We believed that a historical bookstore could not close. A business that contains so much knowledge and concern within its walls cannot just go away like that. But these last five years have been the beginning of the end of great bookstores.
in 2016 disappeared from Zaragoza Allué , a century-old bookstore that, after 128 years, did not want to continue. After the closure of the famous Ávila Catholic Bookstore in the later 2017 everything could happen.
For more than 150 years this establishment was dedicated body and soul to the sale of religious books until the passage of time and technology engulfed the business completely. And the epidemic continues.
** CLOSES MOYA AND WITH HER HER HEROINE**
Days ago, the ancient Moya bookstore overflowed before the tide of incredulous, curious and nostalgic people who came once again to the interior of that curious place of medical books that smelled of wonderful antiquity.
But they no longer came to his doors due to the call of knowledge. Nerd; that would have been nonsense for these times in which cellulose is no longer good to look at. It has been the liquidation poster for cessation of activity that gave this very old daughter of Madrid a life to take it away again. Cruelly.
These last five years have been the beginning of the end of great bookstores
We already told you some time ago ** the history of the Moya bookstore ** which, even dating from 1862, has maintained its location in Madrid's Calle de Carretas since 1915.
In recent days, the great-granddaughter of its founder, Gema Moya, decided not to deal with us anymore, overcome by circumstances. She barely answers the phone. “This situation has overwhelmed us. Even more so when the news of the closure was released before we wanted to say it. It's like living a daily sorrow and we can't take it anymore” laments Gema.
And it is that nobody has taken into account the delicate state of health of this great heroine of which few media have spoken. It has been Gema who has been there for all these years, enduring the drifts of modern times, holding a century-old business that was another reason to honor the memory of the family.
With the closure of the Moya bookstore, a bastion of giants of thought and science like Ramon y Cajal or of all those great health professionals, in another time intense students, who came to Moya in search of a manual.
“There are no words to describe what remains here. The only thing we need is to finish as soon as possible and rest” confesses an embarrassed Gema over the phone. And those were her last words. Everything else has been left to remember.
THE BOOKSTORES THAT CLOSE IN GALICIA
Galicia has not been spared from the scythe. In fact, in the last five years some thirty bookstores have been closed in the community.
The decline in sales , free textbooks in schools and the non-adaptation to new technologies to compete with the big ones on the web have made a dent in Galician bookshops.
The outlook is bleak for the business of a lifetime, the one in which we queued as children with our parents every September when school started.
It's up to us to stop the epidemic
The year 2018 has been one of the most impactful in the Galician booksellers sector. opened the year with the closure of the oldest bookstore in Vigo, the San José bookstore, successor of the also disappeared Cervantes Bookstore.
And it is that Doña Inés decided to close the door when she retired because, in addition to not having anyone to pass the baton to, the business was enough for the day to day and nothing more. A business of almost 70 years that could not face the digital age. That he couldn't find new hands. That she decided not to live anymore.
In 2019 the one that has decided to close in Vigo is Andel's bookstore (Avenida das Camelias, 102). For many it has been a jug of cold water to see how they have announced the liquidation of their funds with a deadline of March 30, the day on which this lung of Galician letters will expire and pass on to a better life.
Andel has been a space well known by lovers of Galician and Portuguese letters, not only because of the richness of its collections but also because of the extensive cultural programming that it offered in its space, including presentations of Galician music records or recitals. Has been one more example of how culture can die and be condemned to oblivion.
The Andel bookstore will close its doors on March 30
RENEW, DIE AND FIND THE HIGHEST OF THE HIGHEST
It seems that the common denominator is no longer only to be found in the mere fact that many century-old businesses have adapted to the advancement of technology and have been able to open their virtual stores in order to be able to compete in new markets.
many bookstores they have adapted to the new business models but it has not been enough. In fact, it is a curious coincidence that the last generations of booksellers have no longer been able to convince the heirs that the legacy they leave behind is profitable.
On the other hand, the rise in rental prices has put on the brink of the abyss a business that seems not to stop dying. The most central neighborhoods have ceased to be fiefdoms of the cultural industry businesses of a lifetime to give way to the large chains and franchises that represent the consumer society in its highest definition.
Globalization, the resurgence of the new imminently digital generations from the cradle and the spectacular advance of throwaway culture they have done the rest.
Say no to throwaway culture
On many occasions, reality is stranger than fiction. In the gentrified Madrid neighborhood of Lavapiés, the news came to the fore in January of how every morning Grant's bookstore facade (Michael Servetus, 21) woke up full of graffiti. Under the slogan "Moríos, Modernos", the disfigured image of the bookstore became a whole current of public opinion that pointed to an attack against a 'hipster' business.
But the reality is different. reality is in a neighborhood dotted with housing speculation that, on the other hand, supports the comings and goings of the tenants of the tourist flats. Tenants who, on many occasions, are not exactly model neighbors and who have caused the weariness of the neighbors of a lifetime.
But is the solution to be found in sullying the entrance of a bookstore day after day? Is that the image we want to offer to tourism in the city? As difficult as it is to stay afloat in this sector and we ourselves throw stones on our own roof.
That is not the image of the coolest neighborhood in the world that was advertised on the networks last year about Lavapiés. Or maybe it's just that we don't share the same notion of what's cool and what's not. Maybe it's because some of us still understand culture as something constructive, with no appeal in destruction. Either that or we've gone totally insane. Total catharsis. Let's leave the bookstores alone, please.
Let's save the old bookstores!