The Archbishopric denounces that Barcelona City Council "ridiculed" the Virgin of La Mercè in the festival poster.

Irreverent and intended to ridicule the Virgin. This is how the Archbishopric of Barcelona views the poster for the festival of La Mercè (or La Merced), held on September 24. The problem? The cabaret-like and circus-like image it offers of Barcelona's patron saint, who appears as the queen of a sort of fairground wagon. Barely a week after the City Council unveiled the official poster and video for the festivities, designed by theater director Lluís Danés, the Archbishopric issued a statement regretting the "irreverent use of various religious forms with the intention of ridiculing the image of the Virgin."

Renowned set designer and director Lluís Danés wanted to give this year's campaign a theatrical touch . But his proposal, based on the aesthetics of the circus and traveling theaters, has not gone down well with the Church, as he states in his statement: "Although he accepts that the City Council wants to give an exclusively secular tone to the festival, he wishes to express his surprise at the fact that each year the poster introduces the use of religious elements; this year it was a reference to an altarpiece and a crown alluding to the Virgin."

At the poster presentation, its creator defends it this way: "I thought this year the poster had to be something more... more alive, more tangible, more real. A piece that couldn't just be looked at, but could be felt, inhabited, and shared. That's why, in 2025, the Mercè poster isn't virtual. It's physical. It's material. It's a real float, built with wood, with metal, with magic. A piece of stagecraft that takes to the streets to bring the festival to the heart of the city." The altarpiece becomes a circus troupe's float, "inspired by the traveling theaters of yesteryear," in Danés's words. "But it looks decidedly toward the future. It's modern, radical, and moving ," he adds.

However, the use of religious symbolism, from the altarpiece converted into a fairground wagon to the crown of a virgin resembling a circus or cabaret queen (which almost seems like a tribute to Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge ), has not sat well within the Barcelona diocese. In recent decades, the festival of La Mercè has gradually shed its religious character in favor of a more leisurely one. In fact, the traditional mass in the Basilica of La Mercè is no longer even part of the official festival program, something the Archbishopric also criticizes the City Council for and requests that it be included this year.

Last week, in the City Hall's Saló de Cent, Mayor Collboni emphasized that the festivities will be dedicated to "theater, street arts, popular culture, and a music that also aims to be represented in Lluís Danés' lively and very festive lineup, which for the first time in the history of the Mercè will become a reality, it will materialize."

In its brief but forceful statement, the Archbishopric calls for respect for the Christian community: "In a democracy, the feelings of others must be respected, and this festival poster violates the feelings of those who venerate and respect the significance of the patron saint of this noble city and the history built around her." Almost as a history lesson, the Church recalls the strong connection between La Mercè and Barcelona: "This festival and the history of the Order of Mercy were born in our city on August 10, 1218, in a ceremony held in the cathedral, which had the support of King James I and Bishop Berenguer de Palou."

Last year, the Mercè poster also raised a bit of a stir and left Barcelona residents, to say the least, disgruntled. The headline on social media and in bars was: " It looks like a horror movie poster." The official poster was taken from a video by CANADA, one of the country's top production companies, which has worked with Rosalía, C. Tangana, Dua Lipa, and Travis Scott. But on its own, it didn't quite make sense. The concept of the audiovisual format was missing: a baby who wouldn't stop crying until he saw a giant dancing through the window and fell asleep while hearing the fireworks.