AGP Executive Report

Literary Heritage Spotlight: Spain marks the anniversary of Golden Age writer Francisco de Quevedo, recalling his razor-sharp satire, political clashes, and even imprisonment as part of his fight to keep writing. Arts & Exhibitions: A September art roundup highlights new shows across Spain, including Anna Bautista’s “Undergrowth” (León Gallery International) and “Beyond Existing Forces” at Modeka Art, with artists using documents, video, and installation to push civic and social questions. Publishing & Culture Events: Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid expands its TV pipeline with a new Euro-Atlantic Series Co-Pro Pitch Program, while the Iberseries Co-Production Forum adds a selection committee to shortlist projects and speed up financing. Education & Reading Trends: Spain’s PISA reading results land among the weakest on record, with declines tied to harder comprehension tasks. Health & Community Reading: A Barcelona trial on nature-based social prescribing finds group support can ease loneliness, especially for the most affected participants. Books & Adaptations: A graphic novel adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s “In the Time of the Butterflies” retells the Mirabal sisters’ story for new readers.

Publishing & Adaptations: Prime Video is doubling down on young adult content, with a slate led by non-English International Originals including Spain’s Tell Me in Secret, while Mercedes Ron’s Culpables universe keeps expanding into screen adaptations. Literary Culture: A new graphic novel adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies retells the Mirabal sisters’ resistance story for a new generation. Spain in Focus (Education): Spain’s PISA reading results land among the weakest on record, with declines tied to poorer performance on longer texts and higher-order tasks. Books & Media Industry: Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid adds a Euro-Atlantic Series Co-Pro Pitch Program, aiming to move European TV projects toward financing and distribution. Authors & IP: Argentine-Spanish author Mercedes Ron discusses how her Wattpad start became a major IP pipeline for Amazon MGM Studios. Community Reading & Youth: A teen wildlife tracker from Navarra, Spain, shares her nature story in a children’s book translated into English.

Publishing & Distribution Deal: BMG has signed YOSHIKI for global distribution and publishing administration, covering releases from his label Melodee and X Japan back-catalog. TV-to-Books/Storytelling: Prime Video’s YA slate push continues with “Call Me Bae” Season 2 and an “Obsessed Retreat” featuring Spain’s emerging talent, signaling how international originals are being marketed across borders. Rights & Media Production: “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” final season gets a first-look teaser for 2027, with the cast including Óscar Jaenada and Hugo Arbués and a storyline that crosses Spain. Education & Reading Context: Spain’s Pisa results land among the lowest on record in maths, reading and science, with a widening gap between low- and high-performing students. Trade/Logistics for Publishers: ShipStation says it’s expanding internationally via acquisitions and adding freight modes; it already operates in Spain, pointing to smoother cross-border fulfillment for online sellers. Design/Collectibles Brand Expansion: BOW (LEXON) acquires Leblon Delienne, strengthening licensed pop-culture collectibles and design objects with global reach.

Education & Reading Crisis: Spain’s latest Pisa results land “among the lowest ever recorded” for 15-year-olds, with maths, reading and science all hitting record lows and the share of low achievers rising sharply since 2015. Publishing & Tech Expansion: ShipStation says it’s pushing major global growth, already operating in Spain and adding new freight modes to its logistics workflow. International Book/Reading Events: The Manila International Book Fair returns Sept. 9–13 with a “Get Lit” theme, bringing authors, publishers and educators together for five days of programming. Design/Collectibles Business: BOW (Brands of Wonder) acquires Leblon Delienne, the French atelier behind licensed pop-culture sculptures and limited-edition design objects, aiming to scale global reach. Royal Spotlight: Princess Leonor begins her first day at Carlos III University in Madrid, starting a four-year Political Science degree.

Publishing & Culture (Spain): A new Spanish-language book, Bella ciao. Historia de un himno popular, arrives in bookstores this month, tracing how the antifascist anthem traveled from trenches and protests to Gaza and Spain’s 15M movement. Literary Events (Spain): The Instituto Cervantes in Athens hosts the 2026 Mediterranean Poetry Festival on Sept. 8, pairing Greek and Spanish poets and spotlighting Iberian multilingual traditions beyond Castilian. Publishing & Media (Spain): Audible previews its multilingual adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula at Venice, with Mina positioned as the story’s driving force and local star casts across seven languages. Books & Authors (Spain): Spanish journalist Sergio Andrés Medina is launching Spanish Liverpool: The Untold Story of How Rafa Benítez Conquered Europe and Revolutionised the English Game, focusing on Benítez’s six-year Liverpool era. Language Policy (Valencia): A new analysis argues Valencian’s “educational freedom” law risks accelerating language “extinction through neglect,” shifting protection duties onto families and schools.

Royal & Education: Princess Leonor swaps military training for jeans on her first day at Carlos III University in Madrid, starting a four-year Political Science degree. Publishing & Culture: Marcello Flores’ essay Bella ciao. Historia de un himno popular lands in Spanish bookstores, tracing how the antifascist anthem travels from protests to global resistance. Literature & Language Policy: A new analysis argues Valencian is being “dispossessed” by Law 1/2024’s “educational freedom” framing, shifting protection of the language onto families and schools. Publishing & Travel Writing: Stacey Wittig’s Camino guide earns Amazon Top New Release recognition, spotlighting overlooked sacred sites along the Francés route. Arts & Books (Spain-linked): The Mediterranean Poetry Festival in Athens brings Spanish poets (Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Asturian) alongside Greek voices via the Instituto Cervantes. Media Adaptation: Audible previews its multilingual Dracula adaptation at Venice, positioning Mina as the story’s driving force.

Publishing & Audio Adaptations: Audible previews a multilingual, star-studded adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula at Venice, with Jonathan Bailey as Dracula and Mina given “agency” at the center of the psychological duel. Books & Culture: A new book by Spanish journalist Sergio Andrés Medina argues Rafael Benítez’s Liverpool years were a turning point for both English and Spanish football, framed through lesser-known player and match stories. Literary Tourism: Stacey Wittig’s Amazon Top New Release, A Spiritual Guide to the Camino Francés, spotlights overlooked sacred sites along the 500-mile route, aiming to deepen pilgrims’ understanding beyond practical travel tips. Spain & Borders in Focus: A piece on Ramon Cuerda Riva revisits the Ceuta/Melilla dispute through a literary-geopolitical lens, using Virginia Woolf as a metaphor for fear of reality. Sports Books Buzz: Raphinha’s Barcelona scoring streak hits Messi-level milestones, feeding the broader Spain sports-and-storytelling conversation.

Publishing & Culture: Audible is previewing its multilingual “Dracula” adaptation at the Venice Film Festival, with Jonathan Bailey as Dracula and Mina given extra agency in Robyn Ahern’s retelling of Bram Stoker’s classic. Literary Spotlight: A new novel, T Geronimo Johnson’s “The Occidental Book of the Dead,” is being hailed for its postmodern crime sweep and darkly funny voice. Spain Reading Life: A report on the French literary rentrée underlines a wider concern for Europe: fewer people read regularly, and young audiences spend far more time on screens than books. Camino & Pilgrimage Guides: Stacey Wittig’s Amazon Top New Release recognition for her Camino Francés spiritual guide points to growing demand for faith-focused travel writing. Religious Publishing: Spain’s 2026 jubilee year for St. John of the Cross is driving new books, lectures and conferences, with Carmelite studies publishing playing a key role. Consumer & Services: FACUA says Ryanair’s Spanish phone lines route callers into automation with no way to reach staff, pushing the issue to Spain’s consumer ministry. Tech Research: A Spanish team at Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena proposes “Multi-Unary” encoding to make quantum search algorithms more efficient.

Camino publishing spotlight: Stacey Wittig’s April 2026 guide A Spiritual Guide to the Camino Francés earned Amazon Top New Release recognition, focusing on overlooked sacred Christian sites along Spain’s historic pilgrimage route. Literary history in focus: A piece marking the 500th anniversary of Philip II frames his reign through the lens of Francisco de Vitoria and debates over universal power and its limits. Culture archive spotlight: Zaha Hadid’s foundation and vast design archive are revisited, with attention on how her collections are being preserved and exhibited. Crime fiction buzz: T Geronimo Johnson’s new novel The Occidental Book of the Dead (Abacus) lands with strong “The Wire”-style comparisons, mixing a chaotic police shooting aftermath with a postmodern mystery. Spain-related publishing note: A Spanish Bible Society interview ties into the “Month of the Bible” tradition, highlighting ongoing translation, production and distribution work across Spanish-speaking regions.

Venice Film Festival: Pauline Julier and Nicolas Chapoulier’s Les Indes premiered in Venice, using a Velázquez painting’s journey from Spain to France to explore the politics and human cost of the Thirty Years’ War. Climate Tech & Waste: Researchers at the University of Castilla-La Mancha say olive-stone biochar could help convert CO2 into methane, turning a messy byproduct of olive oil into a catalyst platform. International Justice: A reflection on Ratko Mladić’s death revisits how the ICTY helped shape modern accountability for war crimes across the former Yugoslavia. Consumer Rights: Spain’s consumer watchdog FACUA asks for fines against Ryanair after testers say its Spanish phone lines never connect to staff, looping callers back to the website/app. Publishing & Reading Culture: A look at the French “literary rentrée” highlights how publishers are responding to declining reading habits, especially among young people. Women’s History & Learning: A new women’s history academy in Moorhead is built around books and stories, turning past achievements into a community resource. AI Governance: The Council of Europe moves toward updated privacy guidance for AI chatbots and agents under Convention 108+.

Publishing Calendar: The 2026 French literary rentrée is set to bring 461 novels to shops (344 French titles) between now and October, a slight dip from last year, as the National Book Centre flags falling readership—especially among young people, who spend far more time on screens than reading. Book Culture & Discovery: Dostoevsky’s “White Nights” is surging via TikTok/BookTok, with Brazil’s Editora 34 reporting a 463% year-on-year sales jump and the novella also flying in the UK and Spain. Publishing Industry & Rights: Pedro Rodríguez García, founder and first editor of the magazine Palabra (origin of Omnes), has died at 93, marking a loss for Spanish Catholic publishing circles. Awards Watch: Louise Brangan’s The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries and Ireland’s Legacy of Silence lands on the 2026 Cundill History Prize shortlist, competing for the $75,000 top award. AI & Work: “AI cleanup” is emerging as a new freelance niche, with designers and editors hired to fix generative AI’s mistakes—an indirect pressure point for creative publishing workflows.

AI Privacy & Regulation: The Council of Europe is moving toward formal guidance on how Convention 108+ applies to AI chatbots, agent access to corporate data, and training data use—55 nations are in scope, with a Paris consultative meeting set for Sept. 16–17. Tax Administration Under Fire: A former UK adviser warns Spain’s tax system is driving uncertainty and says AI use at the Tax Agency makes challenges harder, raising questions about what taxpayers can know. BookTok Breakout: Dostoevsky’s “White Nights” is surging in Spain and the UK after a TikTok-led wave, with Brazil’s Editora 34 reporting a 463% sales jump year-on-year. Publishing Loss: Pedro Rodríguez García, founder and first editor of the Opus Dei-linked magazine Word (origin of Omnes), has died at 93. Heritage & Manuscripts: DNA research using medieval manuscript parchment traces sheeppox virus across medieval Europe, showing libraries may preserve pathogen histories too. Indie Film Buzz (Spain tie-in): Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” keeps climbing globally, with Spain noted as an origin territory for its release.

Spanish Publishing & Culture: LéaLA, Los Angeles’ free Spanish-language book fair and literary festival, returns Sept. 24–27 for its 11th edition with author talks, signings, poetry, film screenings, workshops, and kids’ activities, themed “Nostalgia Vibrates at the Fair of Emotions.” Literary Heritage: A new profile spotlights Uruguay’s Eduardo Galeano—cartoonist-turned-journalist, exiled to Spain, and author of Open Veins of Latin America—as his legacy continues to circulate across Spanish-language publishing. Books in the Spotlight: A Spanish-language film tie-in gets attention via JM Coetzee’s Jesus trilogy adaptation (Aquí), showing how literature keeps feeding screen projects with cross-border production. Spain–Morocco Tensions: Commentary on Ceuta and Melilla frames the debate as a question of Spain’s lack of apology to Morocco, echoing how politics spills into public reading and discourse. Publishing Industry Watch: A Spanish Publishers’ Guild honor for Cuban writer Leonardo Padura underlines ongoing links between Spanish-language publishing communities.

Cultural Diplomacy: Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez summoned Morocco’s ambassador in Madrid over “unacceptable” Moroccan remarks on Ceuta and Melilla, escalating a long-running sovereignty dispute. Accessibility in Publishing & Admin: A new Spanish cognitive accessibility regulation (BOE) will require easy-reading formats and supportive tools for public documents and procedures, taking effect Jan. 2, 2027. Literary Loss: Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. magazine and a major voice of the women’s movement, has died at 92. Publishing & Books (Spain angle): A Spanish-language book fair in the US—LéaLA in Los Angeles—returns Sept. 24–27 with free author talks, workshops, and signings during Hispanic Heritage Month. Book Culture: A new study on yeast suggests membrane lipids can slow internal protein transport during ER stress, adding to the science-reading ecosystem around research publishing.

Church Power Struggle: EL PAÍS reports newly disclosed handwritten letters from Pope Francis backing Bishop Ángel Pérez Pueyo in his fight with Opus Dei over the Torreciudad sanctuary’s legal status, escalating a dispute that moved from local governance to a Vatican-level test of influence. Literary Festival Watch: Romania’s Iași International Literature and Translation Festival (FILIT) announces major international guests including Paul Lynch, David Foenkinos, Parinoush Saniee, Aleksandar Hemon and Spanish writer Ramón Gener. Spanish Publishing Trend: Spain’s adult activity-book boom gets a spotlight: Murdoku, blending sudoku with criminal investigation puzzles, has sold 140,000+ copies and is now spreading beyond Spain. Food & Memory in Books: A new cookbook project, Recetas de Guerra, revisits post–Spanish Civil War hunger recipes, including wartime versions of tortilla de patatas using bread and onion. Cultural Revival: Cornell University Press publishes The Muriel Rukeyser Era: Selected Prose, marking a renewed interest in Rukeyser’s antifascist legacy.

Adult Activity Books Boom in Spain: Murdoku, a puzzle-and-crime activity book blending sudoku with detective-style clues, has sold 140,000+ copies in Spain and is now spreading to the UK and US, with Blackie Books among the early publishers. Food History in Print: Berta Álvarez Acal’s wartime cookbook, Recetas de Guerra, recreates hunger-era Spanish dishes—like tortilla de patatas made without eggs or potatoes—turning family notes into published recipes. Early Literacy Push: Worldreader launched the first-ever “All Families Reading Challenge,” linking early childhood health and reading habits through a month-long International Literacy Month campaign. World War II, Reframed: Historian Hans van de Ven’s Blood Dawn: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia (Sept. 8) shifts the conflict’s focus to Asia and its lasting political flashpoints. Creative Work Under AI Pressure: A Spain-based freelance designer describes a surge in “AI slop” cleanup requests, pushing some creatives to refuse bot-generated work and refocus on human-made design. Driving Rules Update: Spain’s DGT is set to allow automatic-only licence holders to switch to manual via a minimum seven-hour on-road course (rules to land after 2028). International Publishing/Heritage: A children’s book, The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón, adapts a multi-country family history linking Jaén and Costa Rica for young readers.