Llibreria Catalana

Santiago Llompart opened the bookshop together with a partner who was a schoolteacher who left the business shortly afterwards. However, he and his wife, Rosa Servez, continued with the project.

Inaugurated on 21 April 1976, Llibreria Catalana was located near two schools, so that the commercial activity was oriented, on the one hand, to the sale of books, and, on the other hand, to the sale of textbooks, school material, magazines, newspapers, etc.

It is worth mentioning as a curiosity that, two days after its inauguration, it was the only bookshop that set up a stand in one of the main streets of Maó to celebrate the Sant Jordi festival. Some people considered the adjective Catalan to be provocative.

The owner even received anonymous letters inviting him to change the name of the bookshop, because of the separatist connotations that the word inspired.

These were the early years of the transition to democracy and, therefore, a period of great cultural activity. The bookshop became a meeting point for the presentation of books and magazines, and for gatherings. It was also the place to find banned books, obtained through contacts with booksellers in Barcelona, which Santiago Llompart could offer to his customers in a discreet place in the shop. Many Menorcans have been able to satisfy their intellectual needs thanks to this shop.

It has been more than 20 years since the couple’s son took over the management of La Catalana. During this time Miquel Llompart Servez has seen how part of the traditional book trade has been transformed into e-commerce. At the celebration of his 40th birthday, in a report in the Diario Menorca, his father said the following about Miquel: “He is characterised by his love of books and his ability to obtain any type of book requested by the clientele, from the main publishing novelties to books that are not so well known”.

Despite the changes in customers’ consumption habits, the same spirit of service has been maintained. The Llibreria Catalana maintains its founding philosophy, characterised by the defence of the island’s culture and language. In the three windows of the bookshop you can always find the latest publications and novelties on the market.

The establishment has kept all the shelves and furniture from its inauguration in the 1970s.