culture

Barcelona’s long reading-club tradition grows more inclusive with new Anglocentric offerings

The city’s public libraries, bookshops and independent organisers have built a dense, multilingual network of reading clubs that has expanded steadily in the past decade.

By Barcelona Culture Desk · Published 25 July 2026

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Barcelona has quietly become one of Europe’s most active cities for reading clubs, with more than 80 such groups organised every year by the public library network alone, each led by an expert and running monthly sessions of 60 to 90 minutes for adults, youth and families.

Deep roots in the public system

The foundation of the city’s reading-club scene is the Ajuntament’s library system, which has been running clubs for decades. The clubs are now open to all ages: adults, youth and family groups each get dedicated sessions. Many meet in branch libraries across districts such as Eixample, Gràcia and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. Some are hosted in bookshops rather than libraries, giving participants a chance to meet authors and, in certain cases, pay a membership fee. The annual clubs typically run from October to May, while punctual clubs offer just one to four sessions. Pre-registration for the 2026 first-trimester clubs opened on 9 January 2026.

English-language clubs expand the mix

In recent years, the offer has become markedly more international. Several English-language book clubs now meet regularly in the city. The Barcelona Book Club, for instance, gathers monthly on the first Thursday of each month. The Barcelona Bibliophiles focus on non-fiction and meet near the UPF Ciutadella campus. A third group, Meet Explore Connect Barcelona, also operates through Meetup. These clubs are independent of the public library system, but they fill a gap for the city’s large English-speaking community and have created a parallel, equally active circuit.

Virtual and hybrid options

For readers who prefer to discuss books from home, the city and its cultural institutions also host virtual clubs. The Què llegeixes? platform offers Catalan and Spanish discussions for all ages, while Goodreads serves the English-speaking audience. The Ateneu Barcelonès, a historic cultural centre, runs its own reading groups, and the Escola Oficial d’Idiomes (EOI) includes book clubs as part of its language-learning conversation circles.

What comes next

With the library system’s annual clubs already scheduled through May 2027 and the independent English-language clubs advertising monthly meetings year-round, Barcelona’s reading-club network is now one of the most layered in southern Europe. For anyone looking to join, the first step is still the same: check the library’s online calendar, or browse Meetup and the city’s cultural website for groups that suit your language and genre preferences.