The heat arrives, and with it the peak months for tourism in Catalonia. This year the season kicks off after a record first quarter. Catalonia received the highest number of visitors in this period in the last decade between January and April, and it's also the year they have spent the most.

If you are one of those people who are too lazy to walk from one stage to another, who don't want to have to make a sketch to not miss any concert or who lacks air in crowds, these are your festivals, small format proposals where they also take care of all the details.Ambush yourselfEmboscatfestival.cat28 and 29 August10 years ago, the organization of Embosca't was clear that the Clariana forest, in Anoia, would be the ideal space to locate the music festival they wanted to set up. A jewel with very small format concerts, where music and nature intertwine, as its slogan says. From 9 in the evening, unique musical proposals from artists selected with delicacy and sensitivity to live a unique experience that connects music, nature and art. In addition, you can taste artisan drinks and local gastronomy. They recommend bringing cash to avoid the card readers from crashing. Sant Pere de Rodes Music Festival Festivalsantpere.com8 to 29 AugustIt is difficult to find a better setting than the Benedictine monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, with spectacular views of the bay of Port de la Selva. Atop the Serra de Verdera, the church of the medieval complex hosts the 26th edition of the festival, in which piano and chamber music are the main protagonists. The festival will kick off, on the 8th and 9th, with And the winner is..., film music for four-hand piano and orchestra. A true classic of the Empordà summer in which architecture and music merge perfectly. Festival 15 m²Festival15m2.catAugust 24-29Six days with a metallic structure in unique or unconventional spaces –a beech forest, a field, the beach or a wood– and a dozen micro-dance creations around a thematic axis in a specific location. This year it is memory and in Riudaura, in La Garrotxa. The 15 m² is a festival that values the territory, claims small-format and short-lived culture –between 15 and 20 minutes each piece–, in an intimate and reduced capacity, where the audience is practically on stage. A commitment to decentralize and expand scenic creation and cultural programming outside of large cities.Music in the farmhouses Musicamasos.cat/festivalVarious days from July 4 to 26In La Garrotxa, the Associació Música als Masos, formed by musicians, music lovers, and music students from the area, decided to expand the region's classical music offerings and turn farmhouses into concert venues. They call themselves the chamber music festival of La Garrotxa and invite us, on some July evenings, to enjoy small-format music in both the halls and gardens of the farmhouses. Olot, Besalú, la Vall de Bianya, Montagut, Oix, Sant Feliu de Pallerols, and la Vall d’en Bas will host concerts dedicated to Baroque female composers and Catalan popular themes, saxophone arrangements of works written for Baroque instruments, a Romantic repertoire with clarinet and piano duo, or Spanish early music with accordion, among others. The cherry on top will be the celebration of the Festival's 10th anniversary, with a commemorative concert at Mas Tarrús, the farmhouse where it all began, with a formation of musicians from the Association's Board.Itinera FestivalFestivalitinera.catFrom June 1stVery small villages, those with up to 1,000 inhabitants, also have their festival, Itinera, a clear commitment to the territory, culture, heritage, rurality, and diversity. Small-format music is the excuse to discover the cultural heritage of rural areas through musicians from all over and also with musicians from the micro-villages participating, who represent 20% of the programming. It is a festival that begins in spring and ends in autumn, from June 1 to November 30, with almost 200 free concerts of black music, roots music, classical music, and world music. The idea of the festival is to opt for different musical proposals, far from what is most common, and to give visibility to micro-villages, territories with peculiar realities often unknown to the vast majority. This 6th edition, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Pau Casals, will feature three cellists awarded by the Pau Casals Foundation. DansàneuDansaneu.cat24 July to 2 AugustOrganized by the Cultural Council of the Valls d’Àneu in collaboration with various entities and institutions, the Pyrenean Cultures Festival highlights the heritage wealth –monumental, intangible, and natural– of the Valls d’Àneu. A hydroelectric power plant, churches, gardens, forests, main squares, small squares, and bridges are the settings for Dansàneu, where dance coexists with other artistic disciplines such as music, theater, literature, and audiovisual, keeping in mind the root culture. The 35th edition of this trans-Pyrenean project, which emphasizes cultural rights in rural environments, is 10 days with about thirty proposals, many of them free, organized into three slots: morning, afternoon, and evening-night. A consolidated proposal to connect with nature to the rhythm of culture, and where in 2026 dance has an important presence: they open with the company La Veronal, which presents the solo La protagonista, by Lorena Nogal, and close with La Venidera.

More than 10 years ago, the Department of Culture presented the report Catalonia, country of festivals, with some of the most representative data of a sector that even then enjoyed very good health with more than 360 summer festivals. Since then, music and performing arts festivals have managed to consolidate, grow, and even new ones have appeared, to respond to an effervescent cultural scene that has a diverse audience throughout the Catalan territory.The most important classical music festival in CataloniaIt has been 46 years since Torroella de Montgrí decided to become a benchmark for classical music with the Torroella Festival, in unique spaces such as the Auditori Teatre Espai Ter, the Church of Sant Genís, the Convent dels Agustins, and the Ermita de Santa Caterina, among many others. From July 31 to August 21, memory, wound, and persistence will be the axes of a program where past and present coexist, and forms, eras, and geographies dialogue, between grand symphonic architecture, chamber intimacy, voice as a place of memory, baroque gesture, celebration, contemplation, and the threshold between night and dream. In parallel, theIn-Edit Empordà returns, the third edition of the Music Documentary Festival, which broadens its gaze towards audiovisual language. With sessions every Wednesday in July and August, the cycle will feature premieres and the presence of its directors. In addition to the audience award, the International Music Documentary Award is incorporated, consolidating the project as a reference space for contemporary reflection on music and its narratives. An opportunity to slow down with music.Dreamlike scenariosThere are festivals where the setting impresses as much or more than the content. This is what happens with the Peralada Festival, a clear commitment to the excellence of artistic proposals in opera and dance, which has its own productions, promotes new creators, supports composers, invites great artists and companies, and all this in an environment as incomparable as Peralada Castle. From July 17 to August 9, the 40th edition is celebrated in different spaces within the Peralada Castle complex, such as the Church of El Carme, the Castle's Mirador, and the Celler Perelada, as well as at the Palau de la Música Catalana. Big international names and current creators with proposals in opera, dance, chamber music, and contemporary creation.In Cap Roig, by the sea, more than a thousand botanical species from all over the world and sculptures by national and international artists, is what makes this natural landscape of the Costa Brava one of the most important botanical gardens in the Mediterranean. The gardens, next to the castle, are the open-air setting for the Cap Roig Festival, where there will be about twenty concerts such as Bryan Adams, Amaia, Rick Astley, Diana Krall, Miki Núñez, Antonio Orozco, Juan Diego Flórez or 31 FAM. This year, the festival expands the concert experience with the Aftershow by Mas Sorrer, where after each performance you can extend the evening in the castle square, with a drink and music by a DJ. Music aside, Cap Roig also has different gastronomic spaces for you to choose what suits you best: the Village for the hours before each concert; the Terrassa by Hermanos Torres, which offers an exclusive aperitif with sea views, or the Restaurant Hermanos Torres, with a menu created and designed exclusively for the festival restaurant.More than a festivalThis is not a festival is the slogan of the Vida Festival, a different approach, which has no intention of growing in capacity to continue taking care of the details and for everyone to enjoy the best music in such special spaces as la Masia d’en Cabanyes, the main venue of the festival, close to the sea. On July 2, 3 and 4, Vilanova i la Geltrú becomes one of the essential enclaves on the festival map thanks to a very complete lineup that includes major international and national draws –Fatboy Slim, Ralphie Choo, Guitarricadelafuente, Amaia or Saint Etienne–, a clear commitment to local talent with outstanding names from the Catalan scene –Maria Arnal, who will present her new project; La Ludwig Band; Maria Jaume; Triquell, or Ferran Palau– and the selection of artists that everyone will end up talking about. Processó Metafísica is the title of the inaugural concert by El Petit de Cal Eril, which will tour the historic forests and gardens of the festival's emblematic spaces, with more than a hundred participants including artists, musicians, and representatives of popular culture.Festivals full of music in CatalanThey have already sold out the tickets, but even so, it is worth dedicating a few lines to Canet Rock, the festival that since its return in 2014, after the 70s phase, has become this uninterrupted marathon of music in Catalan that on July 4 celebrates Catalan pop: Figa Flawas, 31 FAM, La Fúmiga, The Tyets, Buhos, Els Catarres, Els Amics de les Arts, Ginestà, Doctor Prats, Maria Jaume and La Ludwig Band will make 25,000 people dance and sing until sunrise.Another festival where the main star is Catalan music is the Cabró Rock. Vic hosts the summer version of the festival on June 12 and 13, which also includes the chestnut festival option in Montmeló on October 31. This summer's edition is the most massive, the venue will be expanded and the total capacity will be 60,000 people, 30,000 per day. The organization is convinced that they have the most ambitious lineup in the history of music from the Catalan Countries: they will feature 24 of the best artists from the Catalan Countries, such as La Fúmiga, Figa Flawas, Lax'n'Busto, The Tyets, Buhos, Suu, Els Amics de les Arts, Teràpia de Shock, and more. Cabró Rock is one of the only three festivals in Catalonia where La Gossa Sorda will perform on this comeback tour, and it is known that they have no intention of continuing. It also coincides with the premiere of the new album and tour of Immortals by Joan Dausà, and Oques Grasses' concert will be the last they perform before their final farewell at the Olympic Stadium with all tickets already sold out. You can still buy a day ticket or a pass for both days of Cabró Rock.

The Spanish government's budget execution in Catalonia fell short again in 2021. Last year, Catalonia received 35% of the budgeted investment by regions. In total, Catalonia received €739.8m, according to data published on Monday by the Ministry of Finance. The figure, therefore, is far from the investment included in the State's general budget, which totalled €2.1bn (according to the most recently updated data from the Treasury). This translated into a per capita investment of €270, which has now been reduced to one third. Thus, Catalonia once again receives less money than promised. Moreover, of the total investment which can be attributed to specific regions, Catalonia received only 9%, a figure which is far below its weight in the Spanish GDP.