“Today, there are two options: frightening, crouching and doing nothing by looking at the landscape, or facing the challenge, risking and risking.” This is how he sees the future of the bookstores of the Garoa bookstore, the young Zarauztarra Imanol Agirre. Flor Illarramendi loves, Imanol Agirre aita and Eneko and Imanol are the sons behind Garoa. He opened his doors in 1973, today the only bookstore in Zarautz, and in the last year his children have taken the helm, giving way to the natural relay. These two Garoa spores have given a different direction to the business they have been doing so far.

Besides offering books, Garoa has other characteristics that differentiate it from the traditional library, such as the sculptures of the artist José Luis Lasa presented. They are located between the books and on the ground floor. “We want the artists and writers of the environment, but especially those of Zarautz, to have their space in Garoa, as well as to disseminate their works.”

The ground floor has been described as a corner of art, giving way to the dream they have always had: to merge books and gallery. In addition, according to his son Imanol, for the future it is intended to create a school or literature workshop, preferably with people from the village, and, among other things, it is planned to make presentations of the books that have just been published. Conferences, debates… all are welcome in Garoa. Imanol has explained that its goal is global, “but we work from a local perspective.”

While Imanol walks with the books, Eneko works on the ground floor of the building, on the web consulting that is installed on it. It carries out numerous projects related to processing, from how to get to the top of the Google search engine, to how to focus the web pages. It will apply them to Garoa and its customers. “In ten or twenty years’ time we do not know what will happen in the field of editorial production, and therefore we have to be prepared, learn and constantly incorporate new developments.” In any case, they are very clear that the book has to go to people and not the other way around, as has been done so far.

The Atomic Ant, the driving force of social transformation

From Zarautz we will head to the old town of Pamplona to get to know the Atomic Ant. It's not a bookstore in the strict sense, at least it's not a bookstore. “It’s local and it’s also collective. As a place we are between the political bookstore and the social center”, explained its members. Cafeteria with ecological and fair trade products, bookstore and social space specialized in political essay, social movements and selective narrative, all of this can be found in The Atomic Ant. Assemblies, Spanish classes for foreigners, book presentations, conferences and press conferences are held. In short, it is an open space for the individuals and groups of the city.

It was born in 2008 with the objective of “intervening politically in the city and reinforcing the debates we are currently experiencing. As a group, we work on issues related to migration, the demand for rights for all people, urban culture, public policies and cultural groups, among others”. Behind the project are many names and many faces, hard to tell.

The shelves of La Hormiga Atomico are full of tests, as three-quarters of the offer are publications of this kind. “We understand the book as a tool of change, not as a container of knowledge.” They have therefore confirmed to us that the bookstore has a political function, but not tied to a political or ideological identity, because it is an open project. In this openness, however, there is a shared interest: the desire to educate oneself, to acquire knowledge and, with it, to transform society.

Montag, Donostia Free Library

Like La Hormiga Atomico, with the objective of accommodating alternative editorials and popular movements, a new project is being developed in the Gipuzkoan capital: Montag. In order not to make economic profit from the sale of books, they want to create a free space where to develop critical knowledge and initiatives. At first, it is a virtual initiative, which will be launched via a website, although you will not rule out that it is a physical place. The initiative is driven by around seven members, all from different areas: He has been responsible for raising awareness of the lack of alternative publications in Donostia-San Sebastián and for seeking a solution. That and being people who live in Basque, anti-capitalist, autonomous and assembly.

Montag will function as a library: In and around Donostia-San Sebastián, they will form a group of partners with the people concerned and offer the possibility to buy books by loan, leaving open the way to buy and exchange books. Other objectives have also been established, such as facilitating own publications, serving as a meeting point for social movements or providing space for cultural initiatives. In Montag’s words, “the long-term goal is to make Donostia a a reference point for social movements and critical people.”

New opportunities for “different”

Although in the context of the first edition the responsibilities were very divided and defined by the change of times, the people responsible for Garoa believe that these limitations are not so clear today. You see the positive side to this. “It allows, for example, to convert a bookstore into an editorial or editor.”

The people of La Hormiga Atomico believe that we cannot talk about the common future of bookshops because the picture is very different for specialized bookstores, for general offers, for bookstore chains and for the great trade that sells books. If necessary, they have added that the future is positive, as the commercial duration of the project is second place. They also see another positive aspect to the situation: “Due to technological and cultural changes, current production is not centralized in the hands of large editors.” They say that an explosion is happening of small publishers who produce books that a few years ago would not have occurred to anyone to publish. They're clear about how to use it. “Knowing how to navigate in that production is very important.”

In addition to the production of books, they have stressed that culture itself has been democratized, as the means to access it are more numerous. “Books deepen and nourish our relationship with the world and the democratization of the means to reach them is good news.” Taking all this into account, according to La Hormiga Atomico, the economic survival of libraries and publishers should not be seen with fear, but with hope.

In these times when the future of bookshops is not secure, Garoña and La Hormiga Atomico have chosen to risk, and if the time comes to close the bookstore, they will. But in the meantime, they will continue to experience and seize opportunities.