Values

1 2 3
A
scene from Don Quixote, the classic of
Spanish literature by Miguel de Cervantes,
served as the basis for the illustration
on the king’s membership certifi -
cate – the fi rst honorary certifi cate issued
by the Círculo de Lectores. Hans
Meinke, managing director at that time,
presented it to King Juan Carlos himself.
Meinke recalls the ceremony at the
royal residence in Madrid: “The king
was very taken with it; he and the queen
graciously accepted honorary membership
in the Círculo.”
This was a way of recognizing the
monarch – and it was also a major coup
for the book club, one with long-lasting
effects. “The king’s honorary membership
has reinforced our members’ ties
to the club,” says Fernando Carro, who
has been managing the club’s business
in Spain since 2001. “Now all major
writers want to be represented in the
Círculo.” As CEO of the Direct Group
division, Carro is also in charge of all
Bertelsmann book clubs.
COUP FOR A BOOK CLUB
A royal addition
Admired for his efforts to promote peace and his enduring advocacy
of access to culture, Spain’s King Juan Carlos became the first
honorary member of the Círculo de Lectores – or Readers’ Circle –
in 1989. For Bertelsmann’s Spanish book club, it was evidence of the
significance the club had attained in Spain over many years – as well
as its commercial success.
1 | King Juan Carlos (center) with Hans Meinke (right) in 1989 2 | Store of Círculo’s sister company, bookchain Bertrand
3 | Fernando Carro greets Prince Felipe (2006)
It was in 1962 that Bertelsmann
took the fi rst steps toward creating a
book club outside the German-speaking
countries – and headed for the Iberian
Peninsula. The environment was
very different from back home; about
half of Spain’s rural population could
not read or write at the time.
Bertelsmann saw commercial opportunities.
“There were few book
stores, and they focused on a small and
exclusive readership that no one was
attempting to expand,” says Meinke.
Those seeking to modernize the country
welcomed the Círculo’s reading promotion
program, drawing on it for
THE SPANISH
BOOK CLUB
1962 Reinhard Mohn and the
Spanish publisher, Vergara,
found the Círculo de
Lectores.
1989 The Círculo’s first honorary
member: King Juan Carlos.
1995 Founding of the publishing
house Galaxia Gutenberg.
ideas. All the same, the beginning was
diffi cult as censorship was rife under
the Franco regime: “We often pushed
the boundaries,” recalls Meinke.
With Spain’s transition to democracy,
the Círculo’s cultural offer not
only attracted new members but also
drew the attention of many writers at
home and abroad. Günter Grass became
an honorary member and his
works again appeared in the Círculo’s
program. Mikhail Gorbachev, then
president of the Soviet Union, also
joined the illustrious ranks of the honorary
members.
With the founding of Galaxia
Gutenberg in 1995, the Círculo began
to publish its own books. Publication of
Catalan works attracted an additional
60,000 subscribers in the region around
Barcelona. Titles in Basque and Galician
have been added to the club’s catalogue.
Overall, the Círculo counts a million
households among its members.
“The position of the Círculo within
Spanish society is the result of successful
business decisions,” says Fernando
Carro.
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