More than a hundred free concerts make up the musical program of La Mercè 2026, which from September 23 to 27 will turn the squares and streets of Barcelona into urban stages for a great international festival, with musical projects from some thirty countries. Música Mercè, BAM, and Acció Cultura Viva are the three pillars that shelter a program in which, once again, the most popular names, mostly local, gather at the concerts on Avinguda Maria Cristina and those on Bogatell beach. On the first stage, among others, Maria Jaume, Els Catarres, Els Amics de les Arts, and the former singer of La Oreja de Van Gogh, Leire Martínez, will perform; on the Poblenou stage, among others, Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len, Buhos, Miki Núñez, Svetlana, and La Pegatina will perform, who according to Gisela Sais, curator of Mercè Música, will offer a concert with "a large part of the repertoire in Catalan". Two concerts for these stages are yet to be announced: a "surprise artist" on Avinguda de Maria Cristina and a "group to be announced" on Bogatell beach.

There is a gratifying solidity, in Nacho Vegas (Gijón, 1974) from the album Vidas semipreciosas (Oso Polita, 2026), recorded in Catalonia and with collaborations by Albert Pla and Rodrigo Cuevas. With a rock that touches on folk and melodic song, he crafts a repertoire that includes some of the best songs from the Asturian musician's career, also in Asturian. Furthermore, it includes "memory capsules" with the voices of victims of political and labor conflicts (Javitxu Aijón, Anna Gabriel and Adur Ramirez), because, after all, he is "an internationalist red, son of Cristina Vegas, anti-fascist", as he sings in Fíu. This Saturday, May 30, he performs at Sala Apolo in Barcelona (9 PM), well accompanied by Miren Arbaiza, Joseba Irazoki, Hans Laguna, Manu Molina and Ferran Resines.