3, 2, 1! The show begins! On stage, there is only one ticket office where tickets are sold for the Palace of Illusions, where a kindly, white-bearded old man will spend an exciting afternoon with his friends. This is the starting point ofILU, the new Cirque du Soleil show designed specifically for Andorra, a collaboration that has already lasted twelve summers and has become a tourist magnet in the Principality, where the show can be seen until early August. Beyond a spectacular circus act—with trapeze artists, acrobats, and tightrope walkers in a state of grace— ILU It's a tribute to childhood, that stage of life when the boundaries between reality and fiction blur. This fantasy world, directed by Lydia Bouchard, is filled with eccentric characters, candy monsters, neighing horses, and even a leisurely polar bear. Costumes play a fundamental role in the staging. They not only help construct the characters but also reinforce their narrative.

The magic of Cirque du Soleil is performing acrobatics on flying beds ten meters high, but it's also emptying 27 trucks, setting up a very long two-story stage, and washing more than 2,500 garments in less than 24 hours. The Canadian company set up shop at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on Tuesday and, in just one day, has the entire infrastructure ready to go. Corteo, which premieres this Thursday. The lives of the artists and technicians are nomadic and frenetic: four days ago they were battling the freezing German air, but today they are celebrating the Mediterranean sun that has welcomed them to the Catalan capital, where they will remain until April 6. Throughout the day, the company has been reviewing the safety of the show's mechanisms and going over the acts before the performance, where they perform the fantastic farewell of a clown watched over by friends and family.