With the 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona gained a worldwide reputation that turned it into a tourist destination celebrated by some and condemned by others. But, in addition, it lost what had been a cultural celebration for four years of the highest international level thanks to the Autumn Festivals directed by Mario Gas and the Olympic Arts Festival. Since then, Barcelona raised the curtain without any special relief beyond the more or less charming proposals of public and private theater.

The Argentine company Piel de Lava already raised expectations four years ago, when it performed for the first time at the Temporada Alta Festival with its star show, Petróleo. That piece, which questions masculinity through four workers on an oil rig, became the most anticipated play of the festival. Now Pilar Gamboa, Elisa Carricajo, Laura Paredes and Valeria Correa –the four members of the company, who share authorship, direction and performance of all their productions– return to Catalonia for a double bill. Petróleo will be performed for the first time in Barcelona, this Monday and Tuesday at La Villarroel, as part of the Flaix de Tardor Festival, and will mark the debut of Piel de Lava in the Catalan capital. And taking advantage of the connections between Flaix de Tardor and Temporada Alta (both festivals are promoted by Bitò), the company will also premiere its latest production in Girona, Parlamento, which can be seen on Friday at the Teatre de Salt. All performances of both shows are already sold out.

From this Friday until October 29, Barcelona becomes a magnet for major international spectacles through the Flaix de Tardor. The second edition of the festival kicks off on Friday with two simultaneous proposals. At the Teatre Akadèmia, Enrico Ianniello will premiere Mamma by Annibale Ruccello, an exploration of traditional motherhood through the portrait of four women played by Fabrizia Sacchi. In parallel, the Mercat de les Flors will host the festival's big dance highlight of the year: How romantic, choreographed by Katerina Andreou and performed by Carte Blanche, the national company of Norway.

The Flaix de Tardor cocktail of international shows will be served again from October 16 to 29 in five Barcelona venues. It will be the second edition of a mini-festival of seven shows situated at the start of the season, reminiscent of the old Festival de Tardor or the Xavier Regàs Memorial. The cycle serves to provide a concentrated taste of what is happening theatrically abroad, at a time when the Temporada Alta festival is also taking place in Girona-Salt, which does have a core of international companies more stably than in Barcelona. The same Girona producer, Bitó, is the one programming this "explosion of international theater" in Barcelona, says the festival director, Narcís Puig, who has public support from the Barcelona City Council (180,000 euros) and the Generalitat (180,000 euros) and the complicity of the five theaters through which the programming expands. The budget is 435,000 euros. For the Councilor of Culture, Xavier Marcé, the Flaix de Tardor "normalizes a programming of international reference shows" and "uniquely defines the city's cultural offer". Last year, Flaix achieved an occupancy of 89%, with 5,300 spectators.