Mayor Antonio Villarraigosa praised Padilla for “his vision, his dream and his work” at the second edition of the annual Spanish-language book fair aimed at Los Angeles’ large Latino population.
Villarraigosa visited Guadalajara in November 2009 when Los Angeles was the FIL’s invited guest. Padilla runs the FIL and remains a highly influential figure in the UdeG, which promotes the LéaLA.
Surpassing expectations, this year the LéaLA received 67,000 attendees, who took part in around 200 activities, including conferences, book presentations, concerts and children’s events.