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Barcelona recognises Iris Tió, Primavera Sound and the Pau Casals Foundation
Barcelona has once again brought together sport, music and cultural memory in one night. The Sport Cultura Barcelona Awards this year recognised artistic swimmer Iris Tió, the Pau Casals Foundation and the Primavera Sound festival, three very different names that explain part of the city’s profile inside and outside Spain.
The presentation was held at Fundación RBA and brought together representatives from the worlds of sport, culture, business and institutions. This edition also carried special weight: the awards mark two decades of highlighting projects and careers that have helped put Barcelona on the international map.
Iris Tió received recognition in the sporting field, at a key moment for Spanish artistic swimming. Her career is connected to a discipline closely linked to Barcelona, where water, clubs and major championships have formed part of the city’s sporting identity for decades.
Fundación Pau Casals was honoured for its cultural role and for keeping alive the legacy of one of the great Catalan musicians of the 20th century. Its work is not limited to preserving an artistic memory, but keeps active a message linked to music, education and humanist commitment.
Primavera Sound received the career award. Founded in 2001, the festival has changed Barcelona’s relationship with live music and has become one of Europe’s major events every spring, with cultural, tourism and economic impact.
During the ceremony there were also special mentions for Camiral, the golf resort that will host the Ryder Cup in 2031, and for the Via Veneto restaurant, one of the historic reference points of Barcelona gastronomy and the city’s longest-standing Michelin star.
The event also served to recall the moment of strong international exposure Barcelona is experiencing. The city is stringing together major cultural, sporting and urban milestones, from the start of the Tour de Francia to the world capital of architecture, the centenary of Gaudí’s death and global attention surrounding the Sagrada Família.
These awards act as a snapshot of the kind of city Barcelona wants to project: competitive, cultural, open and capable of mixing local talent with an international outlook. Iris Tió, Fundación Pau Casals and Primavera Sound represent different paths, but all three share something essential: they have taken Barcelona’s name far beyond their own stages.