Leire Martínez, Nacho Vegas, Miki Núñez and Els Amics de les Arts, the concerts of a parity and plural Mercè

BarcelonaMore than a hundred free concerts make up the musical program of La Mercè 2026, which from September 23 to 27 will turn the squares and streets of Barcelona into urban stages for a great international festival, with musical projects from some thirty countries. Música Mercè, BAM, and Acció Cultura Viva are the three pillars that shelter a program in which, once again, the most popular names, mostly local, gather at the concerts on Avinguda Maria Cristina and those on Bogatell beach. On the first stage, among others, Maria Jaume, Els Catarres, Els Amics de les Arts, and the former singer of La Oreja de Van Gogh, Leire Martínez, will perform; on the Poblenou stage, among others, Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len, Buhos, Miki Núñez, Svetlana, and La Pegatina will perform, who according to Gisela Sais, curator of Mercè Música, will offer a concert with "a large part of the repertoire in Catalan". Two concerts for these stages are yet to be announced: a "surprise artist" on Avinguda de Maria Cristina and a "group to be announced" on Bogatell beach.

This year there will be five shows produced specifically for La Mercè: La Barcelona flamenca, directed by Luis Troquel and with Chicuelo as musical director; the social project Vozes, with Marco Mesquida as guest; Carola Ortiz's reinvented Havaneras; Marco de Ana's dance, flamenco, and performance project; and the dialogue between folklore and electronics by Ana Rossi and Joana Queiroz, who will perform on Saturday, September 26 at the Teatre Grec. A day earlier, the Montjuïc amphitheater will host a concert by singer-songwriter Nacho Vegas, one of the highlights of the lineup. Other unique concerts of La Mercè will include Giulia Valle, who will offer a "critical review" of Carlos Cano's songbook; Pol Batlle's emotional concert about his mother's Alzheimer's; and the premiere of Luisa Sobral's new album, Cartas del desamor. There will also be three concerts around Shanghai – the guest city of this edition – and performances by established artists such as Sabor de Gràcia, Maika Makovski, Aterciopelados, La Paloma, and María Terremoto.

With the new artistic direction of Marta Mei and Aina Pociello, BAM (Barcelona Acció Musical) is starting a new phase, with the aim of continuing to be "a space for discovery" and placing an emphasis on accessibility, gender parity, and plurality (linguistic, identity, and musical). In this regard, BAM's figures are eloquent: despite having had only "a very intense month and a half" to design the programming, the new curators have gathered 46% of projects led by women, 28% led by men, 18% mixed, and 8% led by non-binary artists. In comparison, Música Mercè concerts, "without taking into account the concerts by orchestras and on Maria Cristina Avenue," gather 38.24% of projects led by men, 35.29% led by women, and 26.47% mixed. The styles on BAM's lineup range from the rock of The Slates, Brama, and Ypnosi to the mestizo jazz of the Daoud collective, going through the rap of Uzi Freyja, the Jamaican heritage music of Les Testarudes, the psychedelia of Minibús Intergalàctic, and the experimentation on traditional Galician music by the duo formed by Raül Refree and Tanxugueiras singer Aida Tarrío.