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Feria de Abril de Catalunya
Until 3 May
Parc del Fòrum
Barcelona in May 2026: Bad Bunny, Molchat Doma, Museum Night, and the Reunion of the Decade
May is the month when Barcelona fully switches into summer mode: temperatures settle between 20–25°C, daylight stretches to 9:00 PM, and the concert season hits its stride. Stadium shows alternate with club gigs, museum nights with street markets. La Cotorra has picked out all the best of it.
Catalonia's version of the Andalusian cultural festival runs into the first days of May. At Parc del Fòrum: live music (flamenco above all), traditional Andalusian food, fairground rides, and people in folk costume. On Fridays, the fair opens at 6:00 PM; on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 AM, running until late at night. Free entry.
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Palo Alto Market
A regular city market worth visiting for the live music and atmosphere alone. You can also browse designer goods and handcrafted jewellery — all set within a factory complex in Poblenou, lush with greenery by May. Entry costs €6.50.
The Russian band whose case — involving the performance of songs by artists labelled "foreign agents" on the streets of St Petersburg — drew widespread public attention. In October 2025, the group's members were arrested three times by police for performing songs by Noize MC and Monetochka, resulting in several administrative detentions and fines. In late November, the band left Russia and emigrated to Europe. The concert will feature both covers and original Stoptime songs, including tracks written since leaving Russia.
The biggest Spanish musical reunion of the decade. Manolo García and Quimi Portet hadn't performed together for nearly 30 years, and the announcement of two Barcelona stadium dates caused a frenzy: tickets sold out within hours. El Último de la Fila played acoustic rock with touches of rumba and lyrics rooted in the everyday life of working-class neighbourhoods.
For those who have recently moved to Barcelona, this is a lesson in the city's identity. Barcelona knows Manolo García the way St Petersburg knows Boris Grebenshchikov — the same sense of belonging to a generation and a city at once. Even if you don't know a single song, the atmosphere alone makes it worth going. Look for tickets in resale groups or platforms.
A production by Marfa Gorvits, based on Lyudmila Ulitskaya's play, with Liya Akhedzhakova in the lead role. A story that is simultaneously funny and heartbreaking — about a mother who has found a bride for her son, about generational conflict, family despotism, and self-sacrifice.
The Málaga-born singer, one of the most commercially successful Spanish artists of the past decade, brings his new album "KM0" — a symbolic starting point for a new chapter in his career. Alborán makes Spanish pop with an emphasis on acoustic guitar and flamenco melody. For those just getting to know the Spanish pop scene, this is a good entry point: his hits in Spanish are immediately easy on the ear.
An experimental pop artist from Bashkortostan, recognised for her distinctive voice and innovative sound. Her second album, "Vot-Vot," retains the touching personal quality of her earlier work while adding an electronic dimension that suits it very well. Rushana is one of the most exciting presences on the contemporary Russian-language music scene right now.
The legendary British rock musician and one of the greatest guitarists of his generation performs in Barcelona for the first time since 2004. At 81, Clapton performs rarely — which makes this a genuinely unmissable opportunity. The concert follows the natural format for an artist of his stature: a greatest hits show, from Wonderful Tonight to Tears in Heaven.
A K-pop girl group with millions of fans around the world. TWICE make bright, synthesiser-driven pop with infectious hooks and sharp choreography. They sing in Korean, Japanese, and English — sometimes within the same song. Their only concert date in Spain.
The annual Museum Night offers free entry to more than 95 spaces across Barcelona and its surroundings from 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM. Alongside the open doors: concerts, workshops, performances, tours, and mapping shows. Most venues require no registration, though some special activities need to be booked in advance through the official website. Planning a route is strongly recommended — covering everything in one night is impossible. The optimal strategy is to choose three or four venues in the same neighbourhood and go on foot.
Berlin project Sascha Ring emerges from a lengthy hiatus with a new album, "A Hum of Maybe," and brings it to life in full live format: not a DJ set, but a complete band with synthesisers, live instruments, and vocals. Critics describe "A Hum of Maybe" as a return to more atmospheric, slower electronics — closer in spirit to "Walls" (2009) than to Ring's more recent material.
The star of the last Super Bowl and the defining Spanish-language artist of the moment brings his latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, to Barcelona. It is his most personal record yet: full of references to his native Puerto Rican musical traditions, alongside reflections on the island's complex political status and cultural identity.
Minsk trio Molchat Doma are arguably the most internationally recognised Russian-language post-punk act from the former Soviet Union. The musicians left Belarus and settled in Los Angeles without losing their signature cold sound, their Russian-language lyrics, or their Soviet melancholy aesthetic. Their viral rise through TikTok led to a complete reinvention of their career: they now fill venues across Europe, and the audience is genuinely international — Spaniards who don't understand a word will be standing shoulder to shoulder with Russian-speaking emigrants.
The major exhibition opening of M, a joint project between CaixaForum and the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, is dedicated to blur as an artistic tool. The starting point is Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" series: it was Monet who introduced deliberate unfocusedness into painting as a mode of expression rather than a flaw. The exhibition traces how this principle was transformed across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Artists featured include Alberto Giacometti, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Bill Viola, Christian Boltanski, Thomas Ruff, Alfredo Jaar, Mame-Diarra Niang, and Soledad Sevilla — spanning the full spectrum from painting to video art and photography.
