Castellano // Català
Programme Solidarity Park Festival, 29,30,31 May 2026
Malgrat de Mar, Catalonia
This year the Solidarity Park festival commemorates the 89th anniversary of the sinking of the Ciudad de Barcelona, and remembers the International Brigaders and members of the ship’s crew who died fighting fascism.
Below, you will find the venues and times for all the festival activities. Remember you need to register in the links or emails provided to take part in the communal lunch.
Events may be subject to minor changes. Please refresh this page for the latest information.
29 May: Opening Day
10:00 – 14h
Student activities day
Students will meet relatives of International Brigaders on board the Ciudad de Barcelona: Tad Davies (Wales), Wendy Lewis (Wales), the Newman family (England), Mario Kloostra (Holland), Michael Hanna (Iraq) and Laura Kasinof (USA)
Then there will be an art and history hunt around Malgrat, with students from local and international schools who have participated in the education project.
[CAT, CAST, ENG]
18:00 – Library – Carrer Desclapers, 14
Official opening of the Solidarity Park Festival 2026
With the City Councillor for Culture and relatives of International Brigaders.
[Simultaneous translation CAT, ENG, CAST]
18:30 –Library – Carrer Desclapers, 14
Inauguration of Iraqi artists’ exhibition: The legacy of the International Brigades in the Arab world
Presented by Michael Hanna. The exhibition includes works by each of the following artists: Alaa Al-Baldawi, Nael Hanna, Munir Hanoon, Jawdat Hasib, Saad Ali, Salam Khedher, and Sadiq Toma.
[Simultaneous translation CAT, ENG, CAST]
19:30 – Library – Carrer Desclapers, 14
Presentation of Moros contra Franco, by Andreu Rosés and Marc Almodóvar. Introduced and chaired by Lourdes Prades, Director of SIDBRINT and the Pavilion of the Republic Library. This book explores antifascism and the Spanish Civil War in the Arab world. Michael Hanna, a relative of one of the Iraqi brigaders featured in the book, will also speak during the presentation.
[Simultaneous translation CAT, ENG, CAST]
21:00 – SCiR La Barretina Vermella – Travessera del mercat, 5
Opening concert with international singer-songwriters Calum Baird (Scotland) and the Amazigh duo Uzzu formed by Massyl Aïta and Karim Kemmat
30 May: Main Day of Festival Activities
09:00 – 14.00h Peixateries Velles (Old Fish Market, next to Town Hall)
Market for organisations and associations linked to the recovery of historical memory, culture, activist art, and international cooperation.
09:00 – 14.00 Peixateries Velles (Old Fish Market, next to Town Hall)
Live art with the participation of Iraqi artists
10:00 –13.30 Peixateries Velles (Old Fish Market, next to Town Hall)
Concert with Brigada Intergeneracional Collective
Including
A Concert with a singer from Argentina Gustavo Román, organised with Justícia i Pau Malgrat de Mar.
A student from the Piter Jelles De Dyk school (Leeuwarden, Netherlands).
11:00 –Library – Carrer Desclapers, 14
Presentation of Maybe Never Again, by photographer Espe Pons, her latest photobook in which she explores the role of women who came from other countries to join the fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.
[Simultaneous translation CAT, ENG, CAST]
12:30 – Library – Carrer Desclapers, 14
Talk: 1936 People’s Olympics, by Doménec Martinez Sociologist, ABIC, and coordinator of the 90th Anniversary Commission of the 1936 People’s Olympiad., presented by Consol Hernandez, vice-president of Amical de les Brigades Internacionals de Catalunya.
[Simultaneous translation CAT, ENG, CAST]
14:00 – Joaquim Garriga Room, Archives – Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
Presentation of the exhibition Invisible but decisive. Women in the Civil War and the Battle of the Ebro, by historian Sònia Garangou. Explanation of exhibition in English on Sunday morning.
[CAT, CAST]
14:30 – Archives Gardens Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
Communal lunch bringing together all SPF’26 participants and organisations.
Limited places: Form to sign up for the lunch
16:00 – Archives Gardens Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
“Let’s chat, let’s network”
Networking activity for festival participants, with short 5–10 minute meetings to share projects and establish contacts over coffee, tea, or light refreshments.
17:00 – Joaquim Garriga Room, Archives – Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
Roundtable: International Brigades – Internationalism Past and Present
Participants:
- Mike Arnott, Scotland Secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust and Secretary of Dundee Trades Union Council (Scotland).
- Aura Azuzena Corrales, President in Nicaragua of SOARPAL (Solidarity Arbúcies – Palacagüina).
- Salah Jamal (Doctor, Historian and Palestinian writer)
- Laura Kasinof, American journalist and Middle East correspondent for The New York Times and The Guardian, specialist in the Arab world, and granddaughter of Benjamin Kasinof, an International Brigade member who travelled on the Ciudad de Barcelona.
- Riccardo Massimi, NODO SOLIDALE (Itàlia)
The presenter and chair will be David Fernández
[Simultaneous translation CAT, ENG, CAST]
19:30 – Solidarity Park Monument
Official inauguration of the new portholes.
Participants will include:
The winning students of the 2026 design contest along with representatives of Malgrat City Council and the Catalan Government.
Performances by secondary school students from IES Quatre Cantons (Barcelona) and OSG Piter Jelles De Dyk (Leeuwarden, Netherlands).
20.30 – Solidarity Park Monument
Exhibition of the porthole designs for 2027 and the artwork created during the morning by Iraqi artists.
21:00 – Archives Gardens Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
Concert
Bar and food service will be available, managed by the El Rovell association. This event is open to everyone but is especially aimed at young people and students.
21:00 – Brigada Intergeneracional
Various singer-songwriters with a popular and activist repertoire.
21:30 – Local Group
Group of 4th-year students doing optional music classes with teacher Marina Porta at INS Remon Turró will be performing rock and pop covers.
22:15 – CarrionyX
Student group from OSG Piter Jelles De Dyk (Leeuwarden, Netherlands), performing original heavy metal and death metal songs.
22:45 – El Pelluts
IES Quatre Cantons Group (Barcelona)
Student group performing original trap and rap music.
23:15 – ZeBrass Big Band (Vilanova i la Geltrú)
Professional band performing original songs and covers in reggae, ska, and rocksteady styles.
May 31: Closing events of the festival
10:30 – Joaquim Garriga Room, Archives – Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
Evaluation assembly.
As we do every year, we will be holding a final meeting for all participants and organisations, especially international ones, to get an initial collective evaluation of SPF’26.
[CAT, ENG, CAST]
12:00 – SCiR La Barretina Vermella – Travessera del mercat, 5
Roundtable: Testimonies from prisoners of the Franco regime, with Carles Vallejo, president of the Catalan Association of Former Francoist Prisoners, and Ramon Morales, who will present his book Surcos de mis memorias. This event, organised by Amical de les Brigades Internacionals de Catalunya, will be introduced by the historian Alfonso López Borgoñoz.
Only in Catalan
12:00 – Joaquim Garriga Room, Archives – Carrer de Mar, 61, Malgrat de Mar.
Presentation of the exhibition Invisible but decisive. Women in the Civil War and the Battle of the Ebro with an explanation in English with Chris Ridge. Then a tour of the Murals of Malgrat de Mar with Rob MacDonald.
English Only
13.45 – SCiR La Barretina Vermella – Travessera del mercat, 5
Closing Ceremony
[CAT, ENG, CAST]
Solidarity Park 