25 years of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

What began as a shared secret in Barcelona's bookstores soon became a whisper that crossed oceans and borders, transforming into an unprecedented literary phenomenon. The Shadow of the Wind is not just the story of Daniel Sempere and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books; it is a testament to the power of narrative to unite cultures, languages, and generations. Today, with over fifty million copies sold and translations into more than fifty languages, we celebrate that the magic of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Barcelona now belongs to the universal imagination.

To celebrate the quarter-century anniversary of the novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, the most widely read Spanish author in the world after Cervantes.

This celebration is the culmination of a year of tributes that officially began last November at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) in Mexico, where Barcelona was the guest city. Publishers and readers paid a massive tribute to one of their most beloved authors at the largest literary event in the Spanish-speaking world.

The Shadow of the Wind, published in 2001, has been unanimously recognized as a contemporary classic. The figures surrounding this anniversary underscore the magnitude of a legacy that knows no borders.

This global dimension was the focus of the main event, which featured the screening of a moving and previously unseen audiovisual piece. In it, key figures in international publishing, such as Lucia Graves (United States, United Kingdom, and Australia), Nelleke Geel (Netherlands), and Hans-Jürgen Feldhaus (Germany), shared their experiences of how the misty Barcelona of Zafón resonated with such diverse cultures, becoming a universal cult phenomenon.

Under the title "Universal Geography of The Shadow of the Wind," attendees of this event enjoyed an exclusive visit to the modernist library of l'Ateneu. An exhibition showcasing a wide selection of international editions of the novel was on display, allowing visitors to visually explore its global reach through its various covers and alphabets.

The celebration has confirmed that this book remains a gateway to reading for Generation Z. Thanks to social media and editions designed for a new aesthetic sensibility—such as the recent version with tinted edges—younger readers are discovering The Cemetery of Forgotten Books with the same fascination as their parents.

In this spirit of recovering and expanding the author's universe, last April saw the reissue of an expanded version of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Barcelona: A Guide, by Sergi Doria, a key work for understanding the symbiosis between the author and his city.

As the culmination of these 25 years of success, the publishers have announced the exclusive release, on November 18, of a special edition illustrated by Pedro Oyarbide. This exceptional edition, featuring fold-outs and three-dimensional elements, seeks to pay tribute to the enduring modernity of the work, fusing the elegance of Zafón's narrative with contemporary visual power. The edition, led by Planeta, will be published simultaneously in 10 countries.

The Shadow of the Wind

The novel tells the story of a boy taken by his father to a mysterious, hidden place in the heart of the old city: the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There, Daniel Sempere finds a cursed book that changes the course of his life and draws him into a labyrinth of intrigue and secrets buried in the dark soul of the city. The Shadow of the Wind is a literary mystery set in Barcelona during the first half of the 20th century, from the last splendors of Modernism to the darkness of the post-war period.

Ruiz Zafón interweaves plots and enigmas like Russian nesting dolls in an unforgettable tale about the secrets of the heart and the enchantment of books, whose intrigue is maintained until the very last page.