Llibreria Tres i Quatre

Llibreria Tres i Quatre is a bookshop and publishing house based in Valencia, Spain, founded in 1968 by Eliseu Climent. It is one of the reference institutions of Valencian and Catalan culture in the Valencian Country, combining a retail bookshop with an editorial arm, Edicions 3i4 (Edicions Tres i Quatre). Its name, literally "Three and Four", refers to the three Catalan-speaking territories (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Country) and the four bars of the royal emblem of the Crown of Aragon that they share. From its origins the bookshop was a meeting point for clandestine social and trade-union movements and a symbol of Valencian cultural resistance during the final years of Francoism. Its publishing house, also founded in 1968, could only operate legally from 1974. Initially focused on the publication of novels, poetry and essays, Tres i Quatre became one of the leading Valencian publishers alongside Edicions Bromera, leaving the children's and young-adult segment largely to the latter. Tres i Quatre has hosted and published many important figures of Valencian and Catalan culture, including the writer Joan Fuster, the philologist and historian Manuel Sanchis Guarner, the artists Josep Renau and Andreu Alfaro, the artistic collective Equipo Realidad and the Valencian poet writing in Spanish Francisco Brines. Since 1972 it has organised the Premis Octubre, a literary competition in Catalan. The bookshop has also been known for the attacks and material damage it has suffered throughout its history, generally attributed to blaverist and far-right sectors. According to the journalist Miquel Ramos, "Tres i Quatre is the most attacked bookshop in Europe". Between its creation in 1968 and 2010 it suffered around twenty attacks, at least five of them in its first three years. In 1983 Rosa Raga, wife of Eliseu Climent, became director of the bookshop, which moved from number 7 to number 11 on Pérez Bayer street. On 30 November 2006 it moved to the Octubre Centre de Cultura Contemporània, also the seat of the association Acció Cultural del País Valencià, then also the owner of the bookshop. Today the operation continues through its website, catalogue, newsletter and cultural activities, with its warehouse closed during the month of August.

Llibreria Tres i Quatre was founded in 1968 by Eliseu Climent in Valencia, originally located at number 7 on the central Pérez Bayer street. The bookshop, of left-wing and Catalanist sensibility, became a centre of clandestine meetings and of social and trade-union movements, and a symbol of Valencian cultural resistance during the last stage of Francoism. The publishing house, also founded in 1968, was only able to operate legally from 1974. Its name, literally "Three and Four", refers to the three Catalan-speaking territories (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Country) and the four bars of the royal emblem of the Crown of Aragon that they share. With the aim of disseminating Catalan books in the Valencian Country, Tres i Quatre became a fundamental actor in regional culture. The publishing house is one of the main Valencian publishers alongside Edicions Bromera. Initially, Tres i Quatre focused on publishing novels, poetry and essays, leaving the children's and young-adult sector, which Bromera would quickly occupy. Since its origins, the bookshop has been a place of confluence for several important figures of Valencian and Catalan culture, such as the writer Joan Fuster, the philologist and historian Manuel Sanchis Guarner, the artists Josep Renau and Andreu Alfaro, the artistic collective Equipo Realidad and the Valencian poet writing in Spanish Francisco Brines. Since 1972 it has organised the Premis Octubre, a literary competition in Catalan. In 1976, Editorial Tres i Quatre was sentenced to a heavy fine of 500,000 pesetas imposed by the civil governor Enrique Oltra Moltó, after those attending the Premis Octubre (more than a thousand people) sang L'Internationale and the Catalan anthem Els Segadors at the end of the ceremony, breaching the anti-terrorist legislation of the time. It is among the most representative figures and institutions of Valencian culture that, like the writer Joan Fuster, the professor Manuel Sanchis Guarner and the University of Valencia, were prime targets of anti-Catalanist and far-right violence during the democratic transition. In 1983 Rosa Raga, wife of Eliseu Climent, became the new director of the bookshop, whose premises moved from number 7 to number 11 on Pérez Bayer street. On 30 November 2006 it moved to the Octubre Centre de Cultura Contemporània, also the seat of the association Acció Cultural del País Valencià, then also the owner of the bookshop. The bookshop has been the target of numerous attacks and material damage attributed to Spanish or Valencian far-right groups. According to Miquel Ramos, a journalist specialising in the far right and a native of Valencia, "Tres i Quatre is the most attacked bookshop in Europe". Between its creation in 1968 and 2010, the bookshop suffered around twenty attacks, at least five of them in its first three years. Violence against the bookshop was particularly concentrated between 1970 and 1978 (the last years of the Francoist regime and the beginning of the democratic transition), a period characterised by a climate of social unrest and political violence in the Valencian Country. Initially, most violent acts and attacks were perpetrated by far-right or neo-Nazi groups, such as the Spanish National Socialist Party (PENS), which expressly claimed several of them. From 1977-1978, with the emergence of blaverism and the identity conflict known as the "Battle of Valencia", most attacks were attributed to militants close to these anti-Catalanist regional organisations. In December 1970, threatening political graffiti was painted on the bookshop's façade. Once erased, new graffiti appeared threatening "next time" attacks with bricks. On 26 May 1971, during an attack, swastikas were painted on the shop window, which was then broken by paint bombs inside the shop, causing 140,000 pesetas of damage. On 8 May 1972, two young men stuck a plastic charge against one of the windows, causing a fire. On 8 June of the same year, the bookshop was assaulted during the night; a new fire was started with a can of petrol and materials from the premises, causing losses estimated at more than 800,000 pesetas. The assailants entered through an adjacent premises, the seat of the Organización Juvenil Española. On 31 October 1973, on the eve of the Premis Octubre ceremony, three Molotov cocktails were thrown at the bookshop's façade, causing a fire with losses valued at 150,000 pesetas. The act was claimed by the neo-Nazi organisation PENS. The same group claimed a further attack with incendiary bottles in 1974, perpetrated during opening hours and in the presence of customers. The devices, thrown from a moving car, did not explode but filled the premises with smoke and caused damage to the shop window and some books. Among those present inside was Baltasar Porcel.

• 2006

  On 30 November the bookshop moves to the Octubre Centre de Cultura Contemporània.

• 1983

  Rosa Raga becomes director of the bookshop; premises move from number 7 to number 11 on Pérez Bayer street.

• 1976

  Editorial Tres i Quatre fined 500,000 pesetas after attendees at the Premis Octubre sang L'Internationale and Els Segadors.

• 1974

  Publishing house able to operate legally; further incendiary attack claimed by PENS.

• 1973

  On 31 October, three Molotov cocktails thrown at the façade, causing a fire with 150,000 pesetas in losses; claimed by PENS.

• 1972

  Premis Octubre literary awards created; the bookshop organises them since their creation.

• 1972

  Attacks on 8 May (plastic charge causing fire) and 8 June (night assault and fire causing over 800,000 pesetas in losses).

• 1971

  Attack on 26 May: swastikas painted on the shop window, which was broken by paint bombs, causing 140,000 pesetas of damage.

• 1970

  Threatening political graffiti painted on the bookshop façade in December.

• 1968

  Bookshop and publishing house founded by Eliseu Climent in Valencia.

A left-wing, Catalanist cultural institution and reference bookshop-publisher for Catalan-language literature in the Valencian Country.

• Correspondència Joan Fuster 23: Valencianistes de postguerra, 2a part

• Dietaris de la República i la Guerra

• Obra Completa, 13

• Correspondència Joan Fuster 22: Jordi Arquer

• El canvi. Una història de terror reproductiu

• Mares i no

• Fer política

• El bell viatge. Kavafis a la cultura catalana

1. 1tresiquatre - Novetatstresiquatre.cat
2. 2Llibreria Tres i Quatrewikidata.org
3. 3Tres i Quatrefr.wikipedia.org