Guadalajara was named UNESCO World Book Capital in 2022. Its theme was how books contribute to peace.
Guadalajara as a city
When I arrived in Guadalajara, it did not seem like a place which would focus on something as peaceful as books. This is simply because it’s not a peaceful place. It’s busy – cars dodge each other along Guadalajara’s dusty streets, horns blaring. Busy market stalls attract queues of people carrying out quick transactions. A different scent blows your way each minute – maize flour from a taqueria, thick exhaust from an ancient car, an overflowing bin.
In light of this sensory overkill, I was surprised to discover Guadalajara’s place on the literary map.
Objectives as World Book Capital
According to UNESCO, as World Book Capital Guadalajara’s programme aimed to focus on:
- Regaining public spaces through reading activities in parks and other accessible spaces;
- Social bonding and cohesion especially through reading and writing workshops for children; and
- Strengthening of neighbourhood identity using intergenerational connections, story-telling and street poetry.
Perhaps because I visited in 2024 rather than 2022 when it was World Book Capital, I did not see evidence of any of this in Guadalajara. Admittedly, the second and third aims would presumably take place behind closed doors and I would not expect to have seen evidence of them as a tourist.
As for the first aim, I would be surprised if this were not thwarted by a simple lack of public spaces in Guadalajara. It’s an extremely road-and-car-heavy city and the only halfway-peaceful public space in central Guadalajara is its main square.
What Guadalajara does have, however, is a thriving bookshop scene.
Guadalajara’s bookshops
Guadalajara’s bookshops are perhaps the city’s most peaceful aspect. These ones are all very near each other, so you can spend a couple of hours seamlessly immersing yourself in the books, only ducking briefly in and out of Guadalajara’s chaos outside.
Librería Cervantes
Piled high with second-hand books, you’ll feel like you’re in the Room of Requirement as you squeeze around this bookshop trying not to knock over the stacks of books!
Librería González
This bookshop is located in a former warehouse, giving it an edgy feel.
Librería Hispanica
Decorated with cool paintings and posters, Librería Hispanica’s steel shelves are well-organised and neat.
Librería Itaca
You’d be forgiven for almost missing this one. Its yellow sign over the former warehouse’s door blends with the street’s yellow-painted walls.
Librería Logos
Librería Logos’ wooden shelves neatly line the edges of the room. Tables stand at the front of the shop bearing piles of books labelled with enticingly low prices.
Librería López
A terracotta tiled floor, dark wooden furniture and haphazard stacks of books greet you here.
Librería Lumiere
Librería Lumiere was my favourite bookshop in Guadalajara. It has the feel of an attic with its ceiling made of planks, its tall wooden shelves and the alternation between horizontally- and vertically-stacked books. Each genre is labelled with handwritten signs.
Has Guadalajara achieved its aim of contributing to peace?
I would say that Guadalajara has perhaps not achieved its aim on a global, national or even city-wide scale. Guadalajara is not by any standards a peaceful place and it does not have a reputation as a beacon of peace in Mexico. I cannot say whether the schemes proposed by the city in its capacity as UNESCO World Book Capital in 2022 did anything to promote peace to the city’s readers and writers.
But when you consider the bookshops themselves, they are mini oases of quiet within a busy city. So, in their own way, books have very much contributed to peace when visiting Guadalajara.
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