More and more independent bookstores are going out of business in Argentina, and particularly in Buenos Aires. With each closure, a part of the identity of the Argentine capital fades. The austerity shock of Javier Milei’s government and the economic recession have hit book sales hard. In this difficult context, the government’s desire for deregulation, which wants to repeal the law on the single price of books, worries the sector
4 mins
with our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Théo Conscience
Since July, the books that were displayed in the window of the store on the corner of Viamonte and Ayacucho streets in Buenos Aires have given way to sweets and packets of chips.
“ A bookstore that closes is a business like no other that becomes just another grocery store. », tells us Juan Ignacio, law student, a regular at the bookstore Gauderio Libros. “ Lately I’ve been going less, I’ve been trying to go once a month. Valeria, the bookseller, made recommendations based on everyone’s tastes and always knew exactly what her customers were reading »
In her sixties, a square of black hair dotted with gray, rectangular glasses, Valeria Satas took care of the Gauderio Libros for more than ten years. “ I had made friends! People came to talk, to chat with me. I don’t know if I was a great trader… [sourire] I think I was a good bookseller “.
Despite her attachment to her bookstore and her customers, Valeria had to resign herself to going out of business in July. In ArgentinaTHE austerity shock decreed by the president Javier Milei in December and the economic recession that has lasted since then has taken its toll Gauderio Libros. “ From December onwards, the deterioration in my sales was evident. A drop of 40, 50%… I was selling two or three books a day. I could no longer survive. »
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And while sales collapsed, expenses, particularly electricity bills, were multiplied by three.
“ A fairly lethal cocktail », concludes Valeria, who had nevertheless managed to get through several crises. “ The 2018 crisis was fierce, very difficult to overcome, and then the pandemic. I’ve overcome crises, but with this one, I couldn’t. »
But Valeria and Gauderio Libros are far from being an isolated case. A few streets further, the bookstore Long live Leyendo suffered the same fate at the end of July. In all, at least ten independent bookstores have definitively lowered the curtain over the last six months, and others could follow.
“ There is a fundamental problem, it seems that this government has no interest in culture », explains Cecilia Fanti, bookseller and vice-president of CALI, the Argentine Chamber of Independent Bookstores. “ They attack the law for the defense of bookstores, which was the result of long discussions between the different players in the sector to reach an almost absolute consensus. »
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The law on the single price of books under threat
This law establishes a single price for each book, in order to avoid any abuse of dominant position by the large chains. The government wants to repeal it with the aim of lowering prices, a fallacious argument according to Cecilia Fanti. “ We already know what will happen if this law disappears. The big chains will slash prices, eliminate competition, and will then be free to set prices as they wish. »
Cecilia Fanti recalls that these monopolistic abuses already exist in the paper market, which represents more than half of the cost of producing books in Argentina. “ The paper is produced by two large companies, and there is a law that prohibits publishers from importing paper. So they set the prices as they want. »
According to the Argentine Book Chamber, paper sells in Argentina at values up to four times higher than international prices. A reality which does not seem to concern the government according to Cecilia Fanti. “ Not only is there a lack of knowledge of the sector, but there is also a dogmatic dimension. Deregulate for the sake of deregulating, and whatever is lost in the process. »
And what is lost every time an independent bookstore closes is also a part of the identity of the Argentine capital, which for the moment continues to be known as one of the cities the most bibliophiles in the world.