A song by Charles Aznavour plays, in a karaoke version, and a dozen passers-by stop at a corner of Gaudí Avenue, in Barcelona, to observe a scene of strange magnetism. Joan Quintanilla, 82 years old, lanky and with a soft voice, performs the song with a perfect balance between emotion and serenity, with measured gestures and reciting each verse in impeccable French and with the classic elegance of singers from other eras. A few steps away, absorbed and with a lost gaze, Conxi Ventura, 75 years old, dances alone to the rhythm of the music. When the song ends – her favorite, she says, from a repertoire she knows by heart – Conxi is the first to applaud. “I am her number one fan,” she proclaims.

Paco Roca is busy. On top of his studio desk in Valencia, we find sketches for his latest project: a journalistic comic about the regularization of immigrants, which will be published this Friday by ARA, in an already traditional illustrated newspaper coinciding with Comic Barcelona. Precisely, Roca will visit the multitudinous fair on Thursday to inaugurate an exhibition about his work, one year after receiving the Gran Premi del Cómic. Asked what he believes justifies an ever-growing list of recognitions, Roca speculates about his legacy: having built with other authors "a bridge between the world of comics and the general reader." Roca assures that most of his readers do not usually read comics, and that it is more important to have entered neighborhood bookstores than to have exhibited in museums. Prestige and commercial success have allowed Roca to fulfill the dream of many artists: to make a living from his art, without having to compromise it. That is why, he says, he has the privilege of accepting only the commissions he likes. This is the case of the ARA comic, titled The immigrant in his labyrinth.