L'Espolsada

L'Espolsada is an independent bookshop located in Les Franqueses del Vallès, in the Vallès Oriental comarca of Catalonia, Spain. It was opened in February 2007 by Fe Fernández Villaret, a scientific translator who had previously worked for laboratories. The shop began in a space of roughly 70 square metres with no separate warehouse, opening just months before the onset of the financial crisis and the bursting of the Spanish property bubble. Despite that difficult timing, it has remained in business and has become a recognised cultural reference point in its locality. The bookshop's model is built around a carefully curated selection rather than an exhaustive stock of new releases or bestsellers. In this it resembles other Catalan independent bookshops such as No Llegiu and La Calders, which combine bookselling with a varied cultural programme developed in collaboration with authors, publishers and other agents in the cultural sector. L'Espolsada is particularly specialised in books in the Catalan language, and it runs several reading clubs, covering adult literature as well as children's and young-adult literature. Among its specialisations are the work of Mercè Rodoreda and literature from the first half of the twentieth century. Over its first ten years, the shop's best-selling titles included Primavera, estiu, etcètera by Marta Rojals and En un lloc segur by Wallace Stegner, followed by L'Ànima by Wajdi Mouawad, Victus by Albert Sánchez Piñol, Jo confesso by Jaume Cabré and El silenci del far by Albert Juvany, among others. In February 2017 the bookshop celebrated its tenth anniversary, and among the activities marking the occasion was a Catalunya Ràdio programme broadcast from the shop for World Radio Day. The shop continues to present itself as a space for experiencing the pleasure of reading, for adults and children alike, and maintains an active online presence through its website and blog.

L'Espolsada was founded in February 2007 by Fe Fernández Villaret, a scientific translator who had worked for laboratories. She opened the business in a space of about 70 square metres without a warehouse, only months before the financial crisis and the bursting of the Spanish property bubble. The choice of timing placed the young bookshop in a challenging commercial environment from the outset. From the beginning, the shop adopted a model centred on curation rather than volume. It is described as similar to other Catalan independent bookshops such as No Llegiu and La Calders, which organise diverse cultural programming in collaboration with authors, publishers and other agents of the cultural sector, and which make a selection of their stock that is not strictly tied to new releases or bestsellers. L'Espolsada is specialised in books in the Catalan language and maintains several reading clubs, for adults as well as for children and adolescents. Among its areas of specialisation are the work of Mercè Rodoreda and literature of the first half of the twentieth century. During its first ten years of existence, the shop's best-selling titles were Primavera, estiu, etcètera by Marta Rojals and En un lloc segur by Wallace Stegner, followed by L'Ànima by Wajdi Mouawad, Victus by Albert Sánchez Piñol, Jo confesso by Jaume Cabré and El silenci del far by Albert Juvany, among others. In February 2017 the bookshop celebrated its tenth anniversary, and among the activities held was a Catalunya Ràdio programme marking World Radio Day. The shop has continued to operate and presents itself as a space for living the pleasure of reading, for both adults and children, with an active website and blog.

• Fe Fernández Villaret opens L'Espolsada in Les Franqueses del Vallès in a space of about 70 square metres.

• The bookshop celebrates its tenth anniversary, including a Catalunya Ràdio programme for World Radio Day.

Independent, community-oriented Catalan-language bookshop focused on curated titles and cultural programming rather than bestsellers.

• Primavera, estiu, etcètera by Marta Rojals

• En un lloc segur by Wallace Stegner

• L'Ànima by Wajdi Mouawad

• Victus by Albert Sánchez Piñol

• Jo confesso by Jaume Cabré

• El silenci del far by Albert Juvany

1. 1L'Espolsada official websitelespolsada.cat
2. 2L'Espolsada – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3L'Espolsada – Viquipèdiaca.wikipedia.org