It is said that the book fair in Frankfurt (Germany) is the largest and most important in the world. The largest, if we look at the figures of books and, above all, of rights that are sold in it; the most important, by the influence of agents, editors, writers, etc. They meet in those days of October in the trends of publications around the world.

Nor is the cultural role that the fair gives to itself blameless. The fair wants to unite “those who focus on ideas at the heart of their business” and encourage international debates and socio-political events, which have different views, promoting constructive conversations, according to the organizers.

Spain will be the honorary guest of the fair, which will be held from 19 to 26 October in the Congress Palace. This invitation has been considered by the Spanish Government as a “draft State”. According to La Vanguardia, the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, took advantage of the presentation of the Frankfurt project to state that the gas and oil that the Spaniards do not have are not “real riches”, but “the democratic values and human rights embodied by the European Union”.

At the same time, García Montero defended the linguistic plurality of Europe and said that the Catalan, Basque and Galician writers in Frankfurt would also be present. This year, in addition to the 2,000 square meters that Spain usually has at the fair, the presence in Germany has spread to many cities and throughout the year.

In response to the honorific invitation of this year’s fair, a group of people from Euskal Herria, Galicia and the diaspora of Catalonia, residents of Germany, have created the Beyond Spain project. In his opinion, the Spanish Government will take advantage of the book fair to whitewash the image damaged by the events of recent years (referendum and repression in Catalonia, the king, corruption, the rise of the VOX…). To this end, they have denounced that Catalan, Basque and Galician, "which are systematically excluded", will be used as "enriching elements" of Spain.

Beyond Spain's objective is to publicize the languages, cultures, historical memory and struggles of Catalans, Basques and Galicians, the international attention generated by the Frankfurt book fair. The activities will take place during the days of the fair and will take place in Frankfurt, both for the visitors of the fair and for the professionals of the sector.

The content of the Beyond Spain festival will be based on four axes. First, they will emphasize that Euskal Herria, Galicia and Catalonia are nations with their own language, culture and literature; beyond the "staging" of Spain, the festival will be a showcase of cultural productions and of the political and social reality.

Secondly, the motto chosen by the Government of Spain for the “Sormen Gaintza” show its “dark side”, recalls the imprisonment of artists, the marginalization of languages and the harassment of democratic movements: “In Catalonia, among other things, there are almost 3,000 criminal cases currently open.”

Thirdly, the organizers have also referred to the rise of the extreme right in Spain and have denounced that the Franco structures "have remained intact" until today in the police, the army and the justice, by granting amnesty to those who committed the crimes of the Franco dictatorship.

Finally, the organizers have also put on the table the colonial character of Spain and the fact that the Spanish "right-wing and neofranchist forces" still see Latin America as a colony. That is why they want to give visibility to those who Spain has defeated over the centuries in the acts that are organised.

They work in partnership with different people and associations and the project doors are open. According to the organizers, the more people contribute, the more complete the project will be. To this end, they are also receiving contributions from private individuals through a GoFundMe campaign.

In short, the objective of Beyond Spain is to create a space differentiated from that official framework that the Spanish Government is going to put in Frankfurt, which has as its axis literary creation and which supports “democratic, anti-fascist and anti-colonial ideas”. The festival will be parallel to the official book fair, which will be held from 19 to 24 October 2022, in alternative locations of the city. Further details will be made available later.