23 April is Miguel de Cervantes's birthday. Cervantes was the author of
Don Quixote de la Mancha and considered Spain's greatest writer of all time. His birthday is a national holiday in Spain and the book industry has made hay from it, declaring the week of 23 April to be Book Week. The message: Buy a book as a gift. Or, as the sign says, "Are you gifting me a book? I am gifting you a book."
The Prado Museum offered 5% off all art books in celebration of Book Week. Other booksellers had as much as a 10% discount. Constant and continuous discounting sales as we know them in the United States of America are unknown here, so this is a big deal.
