The Congress of Deputies has paid tribute to the figure and legacy of the Catalan cellist Pau Casals on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, within the framework of the commemoration of Peace Day.
"With his music and with his silences he defended peace, protested against anti-democratic populisms, and defended the dignity of people," recalled journalist Iñaki Gabilondo, who was in charge of conducting the event alongside artist Ana Belén. "Music dignifies and stimulates," he added.
Throughout the tribute, both have recounted the main stages of the musician's life and evoked some of the praises he received from figures such as Nobel Prize in Literature Thomas Mann or Nobel Prize in Physics, Albert Einstein.
"Mann, Nobel Prize in Literature, said 'Pau Casals has become a symbol of the artist who remains incorruptible, a symbol of the unmovable union of art and morality. Fragile humanity has always needed men who would save its honor. This artist is one of them, a champion of the human race,'" Ana Belén recalled.
The ceremony opened with the intervention of the president of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol, who appealed for collective "responsibility" to build a lasting peace based on social justice and the elimination of inequalities. "No, peace is not just the absence of war," she indicated.
Armengol highlighted that Casals is "one of the most universal musicians" and valued his "deep commitment to peace, freedom, democracy, and human rights," in addition to defining him as "a Catalan proud to be one."
The president emphasized the composer's ability to understand that "culture and identity cannot remain indifferent to suffering and injustice." In this line, she advocated for artistic creation as a tool for meeting and concord among different peoples.
During the first commemoration in the Lower House of International Peace Day, Armengol reiterated that "peace is not just the absence of war," but also "the possibility of living with dignity, equally, with a fair distribution of opportunities and goods."
"In his hands, 'El Cant dels Ocells' transformed into a message that crossed borders, turning a popular Catalan song into a universal symbol of peace," he added, before emphasizing that "languages, cultures, and traditions" are part of the collective memory and of "that diversity" that every democratic society "must protect and celebrate."
"An institution like this, in whose essence dialogue, agreement, word, and understanding among different people are preserved... must take up the baton of today, in these pressing times," he emphasized.
In her speech, the president of the Cortes reviewed some of the main sources of instability and inequality in the world and, citing data from the School of Peace Culture, emphasized that in 2025 the "highest number of armed conflicts in the last decade" was reached, with 40 wars and 113 scenarios of sociopolitical tension.
The ministers of Culture, Ernest Urtasun; Agriculture, Luis Planas; and Inclusion and Social Security, Elma Saiz, attended the event, in addition to the president of the Generalitat of Catalunya, the socialist Salvador Illa.
Deputies from almost all parliamentary groups attended, except for Junts, which considers that the organization of the ceremony falls into the "temptation of Spanishization" of the figure of Casals.
Representing the Pau Casals Foundation were present, among others, its director, Jordi Pardo, and the vice president of the board, Narcís Serra, former vice president of the Government with Felipe González. Also participating were the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, the general secretary of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, and several ambassadors accredited in Spain.
In his speech, Pardo emphasized that the musician defended peace using music as a common language for all humanity.
"From his Catalanness, he defended peace, democracy, the dignity of people, considering music as a universal language that transcends borders and differences. Casals was an artist who always maintained a strong emotional bond with El Vendrell, the town where he was born; his emotional geography always connected the local with the global," he assured.
Casals' cello sounds again in the hemicycle
The musical section of the tribute has featured the young Italian cellist Ettore Pagano, who has played the cello that Casals used for 65 years. Accompanied on piano by Yoko Suzuki, Pagano has offered the prelude, the sarabande, and the giga from the famous Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach around 1720.
"Casals said it was his most beloved friend," Ana Belén has added in reference to the instrument. Previously, Armengol had celebrated that the cello has been heard again "in the seat of democracy."