[5][6] In 2015, the Barcelona-based Diplocat Consortium (Catalan government) launched an effort to internationalize the Day of Books and Roses.

The campaign uses the hashtag #BooksAndRoses to bring attention to events, activities, and celebrations outside of Catalonia.

[7][8] In 1923, Vicente Clavel, a Valencian writer, editor, and the director of the Cervantes publishing house in Barcelona, first proposed Book Day.

The story begins with real events on April 23, 303 AD, when Romans beheaded a soldier named George, probably in Greece.

[13] In 1931, five years after the establishment of the Day of the Book, the event was moved from October 7 to April 23 at the request of booksellers to coincide with the anniversaries of the deaths of Cervantes and Shakespeare.

[2] Although the Day of Books and Roses quickly grew in popularity, under the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco, from 1936 to 1975, Catalan language and culture was repressed,[15][14] and Sant Jordi celebrations were prohibited.

[2] In 2015 Barcelona was named as a UNESCO City of Literature; central to the candidacy was the unique celebration of books and roses.

[16][17] In 2017, a group of Catalan publishers, booksellers, florists, and other professionals presented an application to UNESCO to have the Day of Books and Roses recognized as Intangible Heritage.