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Salvador Illa surprises with a selfie alongside Bad Bunny at Sagrada Família
Barcelona offered an image on Monday that does not quite fit the usual political agenda: Salvador Illa posing with Bad Bunny inside Sagrada Família. The president of the Generalitat posted the selfie on Instagram and thanked the Puerto Rican artist for choosing Barcelona to begin the European leg of his DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS tour.
The meeting took place during the singer's visit to Gaudí's temple, after his two concerts at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on 22 and 23 May. Sources from the Presidency explain that Bad Bunny wanted to see the Sagrada Família before leaving the city and that he met Illa there.
The photograph quickly spread across social media. In it, both appear relaxed, far from classic protocol: Illa in casual clothes and Bad Bunny in a cap and sweatshirt, beneath the vaults of one of Barcelona's most recognisable spaces. The PSC also made use of the image through its youth accounts, with the message “Acho, Catalunya is something else”, a direct nod to the artist's world.
The post also stands out because it is not the usual kind of content on the president's account. According to El País, it is the only image of this kind that Illa has uploaded directly since taking office in August 2024. Until now, his more informal appearances had usually been linked to popular events or meetings with citizens.
Bad Bunny has made Barcelona the first European stop on a tour arriving amid enormous expectation. His concerts in Montjuïc have reinforced the city's standing on the international circuit of major tours, in a week marked by fans keeping an eye on hotels, restaurants, access to the stadium and any clue about his movements.
The scene also comes at an interesting moment for the Sagrada Família. In barely two weeks, Pope Leo XIV will visit Barcelona to bless the tower of Jesus Christ, as part of the events linked to Gaudí's centenary. The temple thus goes from receiving one of the world's biggest stars of urban pop to preparing for a religious occasion of international reach.
More than a simple social-media anecdote, the photograph sums up rather well the kind of showcase Barcelona has become: a city where political power seeks more approachable codes, global artists go sightseeing between concerts and the Sagrada Família continues to function as an unavoidable backdrop. It may last only briefly in the news cycle, but for a few hours it achieved something difficult: making an institutional image seem like street conversation.