The official poster of the Mercè 2025 festivities in Barcelona has generated a strong controversy due to its alleged disrespectful use of religious symbols linked to the Virgin Mary, patron of the city. The image, work of the David Theater and Cinema Signograph, has been harshly criticized by Catholic organizations, representatives of the Church and opposition parties, while the Consistory defends the author’s creative freedom.
The Institute of Social Policy (IPSE) has demanded on Friday the immediate withdrawal of the poster, considering that it constitutes “a deliberate and offensive attack against the figure of the Virgin Mary” and an “unjustifiable provocation towards millions of Catholics.” The entity, civil and international, has described the work as “blasphemous, vexational and loaded with ideological hate.”
Pablo Hertfelder García-Conde, president of the IPSE, has publicly denounced that “a sign that represents a direct mockery of the Virgin Mary” cannot be financed with public money and has announced that the organization studies legal actions for violation of the right to religious freedom and incitement to hatred. He has also urged the archbishopric of Barcelona and the Episcopal Conference to position himself before what he considers an aggression to religious feelings.
From the Barcelona City Council, however, the “creative freedom of the author” is defended and it is denied that the poster has religious inspiration. According to the Consistory, design is a tribute to street theater and Mediterranean popular culture. The author, David Danish, explained that he wanted to create “a work that breathed, to go out and let himself be lived”, without pretending to offend anyone. In its version, the poster represents a festive fair car, without explicit references to the Virgin or intention of satire.
The controversy also coincides with a context of tension between religious sectors and some municipal cultural policies. While the promoters of the poster defend it as an inclusive and festive proposal, the critical sectors see it as another sample of a growing institutional hostility towards Christian values.
So far, the City Council has not announced changes in the official image of the parties, scheduled for September, nor has responded to formal rectification or withdrawal requests from the poster.
