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Medellín has turned old prisons into libraries, and Comuna 13, a hillside neighbourhood once marked by conflict, is now one of South America’s best-loved street art spots, with much of the art created by local artists. Now the Colombian city is getting the ultimate bookish title, as it becomes UNESCO’s World Book Capital for 2027.
It will take over from Morocco’s capital Rabat, this year’s World Book Capital, on April 23 2027, which also happens to be World Book and Copyright Day. It’s the 27th city to hold the title since the scheme started in 2001, and the second in Colombia, after Bogotá in 2007.
Colombia’s second-largest city is home to more than 110 bookshops and 25 libraries, with some in buildings that used to be prisons and police stations. The number of bookshops in Medellín has also shot up by 542 percent over the past seven decades, and the city now tops Colombia’s national reading index.
UNESCO’s director-general, Khaled El-Enany, said books and libraries had played a crucial role in bringing positive change to the city, which was once badly affected by conflict, and called the designation ‘a powerful message on how culture can build peace and social cohesion’.
Over the course of the year, Medellín will host a programme of events designed to celebrate reading, writing and storytelling, although the full line-up is yet to be announced.
Medellín is on our radar for 2027 travel. It came in at number 35 on Time Out’s list of the best cities in the world for 2026, with 94 percent of locals rating its food scene highly and 91 percent saying they like their neighbourhood, the highest of any city we surveyed.
You can ride the outdoor escalators up through Comuna 13, now famous for its street art, explore Perpetuo Socorro, a former industrial area that made Time Out’s coolest neighbourhoods in the world list, or head out in Provenza, where Latin music stars like Karol G own some of the clubs. A man-made beach, Mar Medellín, is also due to open near the airport in 2027, so there may be even more reason to go next year.
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