One of the best-known bookstores in Donostia, the Hontza of Okendo Street, is looking for a relief. The bookstore remains open for the moment, but its owners have put the premises on sale and, if they do not find buyers who continue with the business, they will close their doors.

As explained to ARGIA, two out of three partners are in retirement or at risk of retirement and "it is very difficult to assume the risks of the business and debts by one person". For this reason, they see it as essential that the bookstore continues to function, that it has "a team with a handle", said Jon Darpón. They have been looking for some time, but although they have been the ones who have shown interest, at the moment there is no relief that has the knowledge and the ability to run a store of this kind, which is the great challenge.

According to Jon Tatiegi, who is responsible for the bookstore today, the consumption model "has been changing year after year" and there are fewer people in the store. In his view, it may also be related to the closure of trade in the Casco Viejo and the urban changes in downtown Donostia: "Many of our customers are from other countries and it's getting harder and harder to come to San Sebastian," he says.

The Hontza opened in 1982 in Okendo Street, where there was already another small bookstore. The same partners have progressed practically from the very beginning, and their most well-known faces have been Ramon Tatiegi and Esther Moyua, accompanied by a fixed group of workers. On its two floors you can find books on all kinds of subjects and production in Basque has always had a great presence. Now, once the premises are sold, their future will remain in the hands of others.