"In twenty years, we'll see them asking for forgiveness for what they did in Palestine."

Barcelona"What's happening in Gaza is an abuse. Right now they're killing people. In twenty years we'll see them in documentaries asking for forgiveness for what they did. We want them in prison, all those who collaborate. Palestine will win!" exclaimed Puerto Rican musician Residente during the July 14 concert at Poble'. It was just before performing War, a song that says that "war is weaker than strong, it cannot endure life, and that is why it hides in death." A few Palestinian flags were visible in the audience. Residente himself wore one around his neck. Earlier, in the midst of a spectacular and frenetic start to the concert with half a dozen songs from Calle 13, he mentioned that he has a friend, a Palestinian musician from Gaza, with whom he has been in contact in recent months. He immediately announced that this friend was in Barcelona and invited him up on stage. The audience reacted with an ovation, as intense as the one that resounded at the end of the concert with We're going to get along badly.

Residente had already spoken about Palestine in the performance at the Palau Sant Jordi in September 2024, as Berta Coll reported in the ARA. But the way she's doing it now is different, even more indignant and desperate, and it has coincided with her decision to withdraw from performing at the Benicàssim International Film Festival (FIB) and the Morriña Festival in A Coruña, both owned by the pro-Israeli US fund KKR, the same fund that is a shareholder in Sónar. "I cannot participate, not for a second, in anything related to this tragedy, no matter how indirectly," Residente explained. The duo La Élite, from Tàrrega, was the first to withdraw from the FIB lineup. Other artists followed suit, such as Mushkaa, Judeline, Califato ¾, and Samantha Hudson. Mushkaa's case is especially important because the singer from Vilassar de Mar did perform at Sónar, unlike other artists who disassociated themselves. "I found myself in a similar situation at Sónar, and at the time I thought that a boycott wasn't the only way to be an activist and that perhaps we could change certain things from within," explains Mushkaa, who at Sónar called for KKR to "take its hands off" the festival. "Today I feel like I made a mistake, and my opinion is that a boycott is the only real tool for change against genocide. I don't want to be complicit with the investment funds that turn culture into a business to subsidize the genocide against Palestine," she adds.

Palestinian flags and messages of support for the Palestinian people have been a constant feature at many concerts for over a year. "What's happening in Gaza is an atrocity. We have to stop this massacre. Long live free Palestine!" he said. Manolo García during a packed concert at the Palau Sant Jordi in May 2024. A few weeks later, the Irish group Lankum and the Basque group Lisabö made their position at Primavera Sound very clear: Lisabö with a Palestinian flag occupying the entire back of the stage; Lankum sending "affection and solidarity to the Palestinian people," words that were applauded by the audience."Thank you, thank you very much. We said the same thing in Germany and didn't get the same reaction," confessed the Irish band, who reinforced their support at the concert they gave at the Sala Apolo in September.

Also from Ireland, specifically Northern Ireland, is the trio Kneecap, banned by the BBC and investigated by the British Prosecutor's Office for denouncing the actions of the Israeli army and because one of its members displayed a Hezbollah flag at a concert. "Protesting is not terrorism," read two banners written in Irish and Catalan hanging in the Sala Apolo on June 8.The performance began with two messages: "Free Palestine," which the audience chanted repeatedly throughout the concert, and "Israel is committing genocide." A few days earlier, at Primavera Sound, another Irish band, Fontaines DC projected the same messages; support for Palestine was also expressed the English group Idles and the Barcelona-based Tetas Frías, among others.

At Canet Rock, a banner reading "Canet Rock for Peace" was unfurled. The anti-war call, more or less explicitly connected to Palestine, has been a constant at concerts of all kinds, such as the one in Miguel Bosé at the Palau Sant JordiOne of the most vocal has been Fermin Muguruza, who has been involved with the Palestinian people for decades. Both in the concert at the Palau Sant Jordi in January as in acting at the Cruïlla festival, his team handed out Palestinian flags (and Lebanese on the back) to show when he performed Yalah, yalah, Ramallah!, a song from 2026. At the same festival, Santi Balmes of Love of Lesbian eloquently shouted "Netanyahu, bastard," who knows if he'll ever become Israeli prime minister.

The discomfort of Sónar

Palestine was the unexpected guest at Sónar. Around thirty artists, including Arca, canceled their performance. Other artists, such as Maria Arnal, Alizzz, and Mushkaa, did not join the boycott, but did want to show solidarity with the Palestinian people while denouncing the KKR fund's ownership of Sónar. The situation was somewhat awkward, and attempts were made to bring both supporters and non-supporters of the boycott together to show solidarity with the people of Gaza. Even the festival management did it..