Barcelona stands as a city of peace with the creation of an award endowed with 300,000 euros
The award will be presented every two years and the winner's selection will be advised by figures such as the writer Isabel Allende
BarcelonaIn a world marked by the harshness of war and the rise of humanitarian crises, Barcelona has taken a step forward in defense of the culture of peace. Thus, Mayor Jaume Collboni announced this Wednesday the creation of the International Barcelona Award for Peace, which with 300,000 euros will be the second most relevant award in the field of peace, only behind the Nobel. Driven by the city council, the Diputació de Barcelona, and the Pau Casals Foundation, it has been decided that this award will be biennial and that the award ceremony for the first edition will be in early 2027, coinciding with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the cellist and pacifist Pau Casals.
"We cannot remain impassive in the face of wars and suffering; defenders of peace must rise up," Collboni emphasized during the award's presentation. This weekend, Barcelona will host the Global Progressive Mobilisation, a high-level summit with heads of state and government and mayors from around the world to send a message of hope to the world in the face of current instability. "Barcelona wants to actively contribute to peace and reinforce its commitment to building bridges where others build walls," said the mayor.
Also participating in the award's presentation were Jordi Pardo, general director of the Pau Casals Foundation, and the writer Isabel Allende, founder of the Salvador Allende Foundation, who will be one of the members of the award's Advisory Council. This will be an independent body responsible for evaluating candidacies and preparing a report to help decide who will be the recipient. Also on the council will be the president of the Anna Lindh Foundation, Princess Rym Ali of Jordan; the co-president of Nihon Hidankyo (the organization of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), Shigemitsu Tanaka, and the philosopher Daniel Innerarity. The council is under construction and will incorporate new members.
With a endowment of 300,000 euros, the Catalan award will be the second peace prize with the highest financial endowment, second only to the Nobel Prize, which awards approximately 900,000 euros. Therefore, it will surpass awards such as the Sakharov Prize, awarded by the European Parliament and endowed with 50,000 euros; the Right Livelihood Award, endowed with 200,000 euros; or the Premi Internacional Catalunya, awarded by the Generalitat with an endowment of 80,000 euros.
Collboni has thanked all council members for their participation and has praised the figure of Pau Casals. The mayor has defended Barcelona's role as a "refuge city" for people from territories in conflict and has wanted to recognize the work of the activists who have set sail again with the Global Summud Flotilla. Likewise, he has recalled recent conflicts such as the war in Ukraine or the conflict in Iran, regarding which he has criticized the management of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. "Trump would never have invited Pau Casals to perform a concert at the White House, as President Kennedy did in November 1961. At that time the United States had a president who defended peace; the one now has a Ministry of War," he criticized.
In defense of democracy
Pardo defined Pau Casals as "one of the great composers of his time, with a legacy that is still alive" and recalled that in 1919 he settled in Barcelona after an international tour to "raise the symphonic level of the city and bring music to the humblest". For her part, Allende criticized the situation in Iran and assured that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is particularly hard "especially on the most vulnerable". "This initiative invites us to reflect on how we defend democracy and protect human rights in increasingly diverse, complex and tense societies," she applauded.
Rym Ali, who participated with a recording, warned that conflicts such as those in Ukraine, Iran, Gaza or Sudan "are not inevitable violations, but deliberate ones," and lamented that those who perpetrate them "have high levels of impunity." Finally, and also by video, Tanaka emphasized that Barcelona has played "a great role for a long time" in defending the culture of peace and agreed that current wars "are putting the world in danger."
Who will be able to opt for it?
Individuals of any nationality, international organizations, foundations, NGOs, public institutions, or collective initiatives may be eligible for the International Barcelona Peace Prize. To be considered, candidatures must demonstrate a real impact in promoting peace or resolving conflicts through a project or initiative, coherence with the prize's values, and international projection. There will be a Steering Committee, composed of representatives from the City Council, the Barcelona Provincial Council, and the Pau Casals Foundation, which will decide who is awarded the prize, based, also, on the considerations of the advisory report.
The first awardee will be decided in November of this year, and the gala will be held at the beginning of next year in an event that will take place at the Barcelona Auditorium. For the moment, however, the call for candidatures has not yet opened. Collboni has emphasized that the economic endowment of the prize, indeed, must be used to guarantee the continuity, scalability, or consolidation of the awarded project. Furthermore, the three institutions that have promoted the award will carry out follow-up and present a report.
