Years ago, Rubén Blades warned that the day would come when he would hang up his microphone and leave international stages. He had repeated it in interviews and concerts, without it altering his display of salsa mastery in the slightest. Until this Thursday, the promise became a reality. The Panamanian singer-songwriter offered his last dance before the Catalan public at Barcelona's Poble Espanyol, on a stage he knows well and from which he bid farewell forever. He does so at 78 years old, after more than half a century of career, with a surprisingly intact voice and a final demonstration of musical vigor at the Barts festival.