Barcelona City Council estimates that over a million people participated in the Mercè 2026 festivities, which concluded this Sunday with the pyromusical at Nova Icària beach. The Urban Guard reported no serious incidents.
The pyromusical at the Nova Icària beach marked the end of the Mercè 2026 festivities this Sunday night. The show, organised by the fireworks company Igual and featuring a musical selection by Josep Montero, leader of Oques Grasses, attracted tens of thousands of people to the Barcelona coastline.
The Barcelona City Council estimates that more than one million people participated in the festivities overall. This figure, calculated roughly by the council, confirms the trend of large crowds seen in recent editions.
The change of venue, prompted by construction work at the Montjuïc fairgrounds in preparation for the centenary of the 1929 International Exhibition, moved the pyromusical from Maria Cristina Avenue to the beach. Municipal sources indicate that the new location facilitates crowd distribution and evacuation, and the government of Jaume Collboni is considering keeping Nova Icària as the permanent venue for the closing event.
The expansion of the programme to more neighbourhoods, with the debut of the plaza-park at Glòries, did not detract from established events such as the casteller days at plaza Sant Jaume, the correfoc at paseo de Gràcia, or the concerts by Rac 105 and Estrella Damm at Maria Cristina and Bogatell beach.
The Urban Guard maintained controls for detecting bladed weapons and reinforced the purple points against gender-based violence and homophobic assaults. The daily police report from Thursday to Sunday did not include any exceptional incidents.
The only controversy arose from the new Porta de l'Infern of the correfoc, featuring mutilated human body parts. The leader of the Popular group, Daniel Sirera, condemned it for provocation and bad taste, demanding the mayor account for the cost of the structure.
“Provocation and bad taste,” said Daniel Sirera about the Porta de l'Infern.
The mayor announced on Saturday on Betevé that Mexico City will be the guest city for Mercè 2027, replacing Shanghai. This will be the fifth Latin American metropolis to receive this distinction, following Medellín, Quito, Buenos Aires, and Havana.
The opening speech for this edition was delivered by winemakers Antoni Falgueras and Meritxell Falgueras, who did not face any disapproval. The festivities took place without political tension or the housing crisis disrupting the events.
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