On Monday, May 10, at the Borràs Theater in Barcelona, Manu Chao performed the first of a series of concerts called "Matalunes."

With an acoustic and simple formation, bongos, tuba, violin, as well as guitar and voice, the singer turned the theater into a real party and made everyone dance. The audience was masked, respecting distances, security measures and all the necessary protocols, the iconic musician gave a lesson that culture is safe. 

At a 50% capacity, the event was a success. The concert was promoted with the mysterious phrase "Arrímate a Manuel" and a drawing of a figure with his back turned, which Manu Chao's fans obviously recognized immediately.

Even some fans already knew that the musician was in Barcelona these days, because he had been seen in a demonstration against the repression in Colombia, and are aware that this "marketing strategy" is used by him for years in more "underground" concerts.

"Bona nit Urquinaona," Manu greeted from the Borràs theater, located in Barcelona's Urquinaona square, starting the first part of the concert that lasted an hour and presented almost all his songs in French.

During the second part of the concert, the musician started singing in Spanish and playing songs like "La Verdolaga" and "La vida tómbola," making the audience and the musicians themselves dance on their benches.

"¡Pase lo que pase, próxima estación esperanza!" (Whatever happens, next stop hope), shouted Manu to the audience who at all times were attentive to keep their distance and respected the COVID guidelinge, but who could no longer disguise the desire for everything to return to normal.

After what happened last weekend, when Spain lifted the curfew and the streets were flooded with an irresponsible amount of people celebrating (without distance and without masks) to the cry of "freedom," events like these are an example to follow to remind us that cultural spaces can also be safe.