Barcelona dresses in red in solidarity with the People in Red Gala

BarcelonaMontjuïc mountain was dressed in red this evening with the arrival of almost 800 guests for the People In Red Gala, which celebrated its sixteenth edition this year. As is tradition, the event brought together at the MNAC representatives from sponsoring companies, institutions, and celebrities from the social, cultural, and political world of Barcelona and Catalonia to rally around a single cause: to raise funds to finance research for the Lluita contra les Infeccions Foundation, an internationally renowned institution in clinical research of infectious diseases. The initiative, whose alma mater is Dr. Bonaventura Clotet, president of the foundation, has once again demonstrated its intact power of appeal and its fundraising capacity, which stood at around 900,000 euros, a very notable figure that makes this solidarity gala the most powerful in Spain.

With red as the essential element of the dress code, invited guests from all walks of life passed by a very well-attended photocall. Sponsored this year by model Martina Klein and her partner, former tennis player Àlex Corretja, the gala's most well-known guests included members of the musical group Amaral and Joan Dausà, the artists responsible for entertaining at the gala dinner served by Nandu Jubany in the MNAC's oval hall. Besides Sílvia Abril and Toni Acosta, who served as exceptional presenters, the party featured other acting faces such as Hiba Abouk, Maribel Verdú, siblings Marc and Aina Clotet, Natalia Sánchez, and Eduardo Casanova, who was recognized by the gala's organization with the Premi Solidari People in Red Barcelona, awarded for the first time this year. The actor and director, who receives this distinction after publicly announcing that he lives with the HIV virus, could not attend the gala for health reasons, but sent a video thanking for the award.

From the world of fashion, names as local as Judit Mascó and Veronica Blume stood out, who shared the red carpet with Laura Ponte and the multifaceted Sita Abellán, who is a DJ, model, designer, and stylist. They have not been the only figures from the fashion business present at the gala. Domingo Lázaro, creative director of Dominnico; Alejandro Palomo, of Palomo Spain; Ze Garcia; Moisés Nieto; and Juan Avellaneda have also shown their most supportive side. Influencers such as Nina Urgell, Miranda Makaroff, Steffy Argelich, Laura Vandall, Paula Gonu, and Lola Lolita have not been missing either.

The gala also had a large institutional representation. In addition to the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, many other politicians wanted to show their commitment to medical research. Thus, among the guests, there was the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; the president of the Parliament, Josep Rull; Artur Mas –accompanied by his wife, Helena Rakosnik– and Xavier Trias.

From the communication field, figures such as Helena Garcia Melero, always faithful to the event promoted by Bonaventura Clotet, are noteworthy, but also other names such as Antoni Bassas, Oriol Nolis, director of La 2 Cat, Gerard Romero, or the communicator Carolina Iglesias, known, among other things, for the podcast Estirando el chicle. Musicians such as Ramon Mirabet or Stay Homas were also present.

There was also a good representation from the world of sport, with faces such as swimmer Mireia Belmonte, former tennis player David Ferrer and Audie Norris, a legendary former Barça basketball player. From the business world, Víctor Font and Enrique Tomás were also present.

The solidarity event is one of Barcelona's major solidarity events, a cross-cutting meeting where this year personalities such as Òscar Camps, founder of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms, presenter Elsa Anka, in a very tight red dress, and architect Ricardo Bofill Jr. could be seen. The actress Cristina Brondo and the sommelier Meritxell Falgueras, dressed in red, also walked the carpet.

The Fight Against Infections Foundation, which has more than 30 years of experience and a team of more than 100 professionals –some members of the WHO–, was created in 1992 by Dr. Clotet to support the HIV Unit of the Germans Trias Hospital in Badalona. In his speech, the doctor pointed out that the support of all attendees at the gala "serves to kick-start ideas, which we have many of". Furthermore, he did not want to ignore current affairs and, regarding the hantavirus outbreak, he recalled that "we must promote research into animal and human health, which are closely linked". Currently, infectious diseases cause one in five deaths worldwide, according to WHO data.