Spain is the guest of Honor at the Sharjah International Book Fair

The Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, has visited the Spanish pavilion at the largest literary fair in the Arab world, the gateway to the export of Spanish publications in this market.

The Minister of Culture and Sports has visited the Sharjah International Book Fair (United Arab Emirates), Which Spain is a Guest of Honor country. Iceta has highlighted the importance of the fair for the Spanish book industry, which is already present in Latin America and Europe: "We want to open more doors to the East and the door of the book is Sharjah".

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Iceta has also thanked the Spanish publishers who have traveled to Sharjah for their presence, as well as Icex, TurEspaña and Cultural Action (AC/E), "that make it possible for the representation of Spain in this country to be as active as it is."

The Sharjah Book Fair has been organized since 1982 and is the most important in the Arab world. It has a section for publishers and another for writers and a strong presence of children's and youth books.

Iceta, who was received by the Emir of Sharjah, highlighted "the cultural sensitivity of the emirate" and valued the "willingness to collaborate between both governments." The minister stressed that the Government intends to "have the best possible relationship with the maximum number of countries possible", in order to facilitate the business and cultural relations.

For her part, the general director of Books and Reading Promotion, María José Gálvez, has valued the opportunity that it represents for Spain to show the work of the Spanish book industry, a joint work of the Government "hand in hand with the publishers." As she highlighted, the fair "is an opportunity for publishers to close contracts and strengthen relationships in this market."

Gálvez has highlighted the work of the Government and the different organizations to support Spanish publishers and jointly present the Spanish project at the fair, "to understand a little more about the country and literature, art, gastronomy and music of Spain".

Spain, as the guest of honor, has its own pavilion, where Spanish publications are displayed and creators, representatives of the Spanish book sector and publishers attend.

The minister took advantage of the trip to sign a sports collaboration agreement with the emirate of Sharjah. He will also visit, tomorrow, the Spanish Pavilion of the Dubai World Expo.