Different cultural diplomatic organizations are once again present at this fair and organize presentations and discussions with publishers and authors of new books.
This year, the Madrid Book Fair 2026 has a total of 366 booths, which are numbered and aligned on the Carriageway of El Retiro Park. Its specific distribution consists of 118 booths belonging to bookstores, 220 booths corresponding to publishers, and the rest is divided among distributors and official organizations.
As every year, a huge influx of visitors is expected, eager readers of the latest publications and also of those unknown works that are discovered while strolling and browsing through the different booths at the Fair.
We detail the activities that some of them have prepared for these days.
CASA AMÉRICA
Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM. Gabriela Mistral Amphitheater | Entrance via C/ Marqués del Duero, 2. Free entry with prior registration here.
Read Ibero-America Reads 2026. Displacing the center. Words that challenge maps
In the context of the Madrid Book Fair 2026, Read Ibero-America Reads celebrates its eighth edition as a transatlantic meeting space that places literatures at the center of a dialogue between Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Under the slogan Displacing the center. Words that challenge maps, the seminar proposes a shared reflection on the place of literature in a world marked by cultural inequalities, questioning the hierarchies that have historically defined which voices count and from where the common is thought. More information on the website of Casa América. It will also be streamed on the YouTube channel of the diplomatic cultural center.
INSTITUTO POLACO DE CULTURA
The events organized by the Polish Culture Institute will take place in the Europe Pavilion.
Today, Sunday, May 31, at 7:30 PM
European journalistic chronicle: Margo Rejmer and Ander Izagirre
All the information in this link.
Saturday, June 6 at 7:30 PM
Europe is written from the margins: Urszula Honek and Luis Mario.
Europe is also narrated from its margins. From villages hidden among mountains, from towns battered by wind and sea, from territories that rarely occupy the center of the European narrative. This will be discussed by Polish writer Urszula Honek and Cantabrian author Luis Mario, two voices that, from peripheral geographies and small communities, question the dominant narratives of the continent and reclaim other forms of belonging, memory, and identity.
Wednesday, June 10 at 7:30 PM
On the eastern border of the European Union: Poland facing the Russian strategy and challenges for the EU
Conversation between Marc Marginedas and Paweł Zerka. The conversation will analyze, both from the perspectives of Poland and Spain and in the broader context of recent international events, the theme related to the eastern border of the EU, more than four years after the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Among the topics to be addressed are the evolution of the conflict and the balance after more than four years of war, security challenges on the eastern flank of the European Union, as well as the propaganda and disinformation strategies used by Russia to project its influence in other countries.
INSTITUTO RUMANO DE CULTURA
Romania participates in the Madrid Book Fair 2026 with booth 413-27C, International Zone, and a wide literary program organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute, through the National Book Center and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Madrid, with the support of the Embassy of Romania.
This year, Romania returns to the Fair under the slogan Romania in letters: authors and stories, in a particularly significant year, in which the Romanian Cultural Institute in Madrid celebrates twenty years of activity in Spain and also commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Translation and Publication Support program, thanks to which works by seventy Romanian authors have been translated into Spanish in Spain.
The participation of prominent Romanian writers such as Ana Blandiana, Mircea Cărtărescu and Matei Vișniec lends special prestige to this program. They are joined by established names such as Ioana Pârvulescu, whose work And I also lived in communism, coordinated by the author, has been published this year, following the excellent reception in Spain of her novels Life begins on Friday and Innocents; as well as Ioana Nicolae, whose novel The road to dawn (Drumul spre Soare-Răsare) will be released in the fall of this year.
Likewise, last year a fragment of her work The center of the heart was published in the special issue of the magazine Turia. Similarly, Radu Paraschivescu features one of the highlights of this edition with the publication in Spanish of his first novel, The black butterfly, preceded last year by the appearance of a fragment of Bracelet on your ankle in the special issue 155 of the magazine Turia, which includes a monograph dedicated to Romanian literature.
The list of guests continues with Corina Oproae, recently recognized internationally after receiving the Tusquets Prize for Novel in 2024 and the TodosTusLibros Prize for the best poetry book of 2025 for How to bury the father in a poem (Îngroparea tatălui într-o poezie); Liviu Apetroaie, whose bilingual poetry book The other summary mirror (Cealaltă oglindă sumară) has been published this year by Editorial Junimea, the only publisher promoting the Migratory Words collection, dedicated to bilingual works; Miguel Gane, one of the most recognized contemporary authors in Spanish, whose novel When you are older appeared last year in Romanian, translated by Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari; and Ana Ropot, writer and visual artist from the Republic of Moldova.
The book signing sessions will be complemented by the participation of poets from the Romanian community in Madrid: Elisabeta Boțan, Eugen Barz and Gabriel Nan.
CASA ÁRABE OF MADRID
Casa Árabe organizes two book presentations.
Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 PM
Presentation of ‘Report on the theft’ and ‘Children of the thousand and one nights’, by Abdul Hadi Sadoun
The Iraqi writer presents a new work that delves into the mysteries of the human soul and the hidden layers of our personal memory: Report on the theft. In this novel, he invites us on an introspective journey to the recent past, where the protagonist —a man who believes he lives a quiet and uneventful existence— faces, in the course of a single day, a completely different reality. His world, seemingly simple, reveals itself as a closed box full of secrets, threats, and unsettling revelations.
On the other hand, in Children of the thousand and one nights, the author has created an anthology that gathers stories from 1980 to the present and that not only offers a literary panorama but also a social portrait of the country. The 40 texts in the anthology show how writing becomes resistance, active memory, and an act of symbolic reconstruction in the face of devastation. The activity is held within the framework of the Country Focus: Iraq of Casa Árabe. Participants will include: Abdul Hadi Sadoun, Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, Pilar Gómez Rodríguez and Luis Rafael Hernández.
Tuesday, June 9, 7:00 PM.
Presentation of the work of Latifa Labsir. In collaboration with the Sheikh Zayed Book Award
Latifa Labsir is a Moroccan writer (Casablanca, 1965). She is a professor of Modern Literature at Hassan II University in Casablanca. She has published several collections of stories and was the presenter of the program ‘Cultural Salon’, broadcast in collaboration between Deutsche Welle and Moroccan television. Labsir has published numerous articles in Moroccan and Middle Eastern magazines, and since 2008 she has been publishing monthly columns and articles on literature in the Moroccan women’s magazine Women of Morocco. For many years she has sponsored and continues to teach literary writing workshops at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Casablanca and in various institutions and associations in Morocco. The event is part of the 20th anniversary of Casa Árabe and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. Participants will include: Latifa Labsir, Antonio Martínez Castro and Karim Hauser.
CULTURAL FORUM OF AUSTRIA
Saturday, June 13 at 6:30 PM,
Presentation of the illustrated edition of the book ‘Impatience of the heart’, one of the most intense novels by Stefan Zweig.
In the Talent on Board Space (Puerta de Granada. Av. de Menéndez Pelayo, 67) the presentation of the illustrated edition of Impatience of the heart, one of the most intense novels by Stefan Zweig, an essential figure in 20th-century European literature, with illustrations by Carmen Cantabella. A proposal that unites literature and painting to offer a new perspective on an essential classic. Participants will include, along with representatives of the Murcia-based publisher Alfaqueque, illustrator Carmen Cantabella and journalist and writer Ignacio Ramos. The event will allow the public to learn about both this carefully crafted edition and the creative process of its illustrations, conceived as a visual reading that accompanies and enriches the text. A proposal that unites literature and painting to offer a new perspective on an essential classic.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Commission Representation in Spain is participating as an institutional partner in this year’s Madrid Book Fair. As in previous years, it will have its own space, the Europe Pavilion, located between booths 387 and 412 in Retiro Park. The Creative Europe Culture Office and Armaenia Editorial will be part of its program with an information session on European funding opportunities.
Today, Sunday, May 31, 7:30 p.m.: European Journalistic Chronicle: Margo Rejmer and Ander Izagirre.
Two of the most prominent authors of European narrative journalism will reflect on the trends in European chronicle writing. Moderated by Emilio Sánchez Mediavilla, editor and co-founder of Libros del KO.
Monday, June 1st, starting at 12:00 PM
Creative Europe Funding Lines for the Publishing Sector
Mónica Comas Rodríguez, Coordinator of the Creative Europe Culture Office, Ministry of Culture
Case Study: EASTERN VOICES and MARGINS Projects, with Ricardo López Fernández, from Armaenia Editorial
Sunday, June 14th, at 12:30 PM: A Tribute to Antonio Lobo Antúnes, Just a Few Months After His Passing
Remembering the life and work of one of the great European writers of the last 50 years. Participants include the author’s daughter, María José Lobo Antúnes, and the writer Rui Cardoso Martins. Moderated by Javier Peña, journalist and creator of the podcast Grandes Infelices (Great Unhappy People).
Narrating Europe Amidst Changing Realities
The Europa Pavilion’s program explores current trends in narrative journalism in the EU and its role in interpreting the complexity of current events.
Defending European Values and Looking to the Future
The Europe Pavilion invites reflection on how to defend and strengthen the democratic, cultural, and human values that define the European Union in a changing world.
Sunday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m.: Europe as Destination and as Refuge.
A conversation with one of Romania’s most internationally renowned and universally European writers, Mircea Cărtărescu, about how to defend European democratic values in a radically transformed geopolitical context. Cărtărescu is interviewed by Antonio Gárate (La Hoja Cultural, RTVE). Co-organized by the Instituto Rumano de Cultura.
Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m.: Ana Blandiana: The Need to Protect Europe and Its Values
Romanian poet Ana Blandiana, winner of the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and a symbol of resistance against Soviet repression in Eastern Europe, speaks with writer and essayist Mercedes Monmany.
Sunday, June 14 at 6:00 p.m.: 40 Years in the EU: Three Different Perspectives on the Europe of the Future
Debate with José Manuel García-Margallo – former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Eduardo Madina – Strategy Partner at Harmon; and Lilith Verstrynge – former Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda. Moderated by journalist Marta Fernández. Presented by Daniel Calleja y Crespo, Director of the European Commission Representation in Spain.
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TOURISM
Also, the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, in an initiative that aims to promote the editorial activity of the department and make its work known to the public, will be located in booth No. 15, located at the entrance by C/O’Donnell, more than 25 publications will be offered for sale, including the recently launched work La imagen de España through its tourist posters.
Among the outstanding books are titles such as Industry and territory: travel, infrastructure, products and exchanges in modern Spain, as well as the latest editions of the magazine Economía Industrial y Estudios Turísticos. Visitors interested in the field of patents and trademarks can also purchase books such as Invention patents by Leonardo Torres Quevedo and Spanish invention patents in the Golden Age. In addition, those who wish to share comments and photos of the booth on social media can do so using the hashtag #MinturFLMadrid26. For more details, the complete catalogue of publications is available on its official website.
