León XIV and Bad Bunny, a coincidence in Madrid that leaves the door open to a meeting

In parallel to the Pontiff’s agenda, which combines institutional meetings, religious and social events in various parts of the capital, highlights are the two concerts that Bad Bunny will offer on Saturday and Sunday at the Metropolitano, where he has already held a total of four concerts on his ‘I should throw more photos’ tour.

The coincidence of both events has unleashed speculation about a possible meeting between Leo XIV and the singer. The Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, did not rule out in an interview with Europa Press that the meeting could take place and appealed to build “bridges.”

“Madrid gives a lot. But they are, there are people – and I don’t know that, history will tell when the Pope goes, what happens, not me, what the people decide, what the Pope decides, what Bad Bunny decides -, who do not oppose, but create bridges and it could be, there could be bridges. They would not be antagonistic things,” he specified.

Cobo admitted that the Archdiocese of Madrid is “willing to collaborate”, but insisted that “surprises are surprises” and that these types of meetings “are carried out very secretly.”

The reggaeton genre will also be present at the I Love Reggaeton festival, which also on Saturday the 6th will offer performances by Tito El Bambino, Juan Magán, Cali y el Dandee, Henry Méndez, Danny Romero, among others. The show will take place at the Ifema Fairgrounds.

RIGOBERTA BANDINI: ‘SOLD OUT’ DESPITE COINCIDING WITH THE POPE AND BAD BUNNY

This weekend’s musical program is completed with a new edition of the Botánico Nights concert series, which will host the third concert of the Spanish artist Rigoberta Bandini at this festival on Saturday, June 6.

The artist has hung up the ‘no tickets’ sign after selling nearly 4,000 tickets each of the three nights she is going to perform, including the day her show coincides with the Pope’s Vigil and the Bad Bunny concert, as sources from the Noches del Botánico Festival have confirmed to Europa Press. Meanwhile, on Sunday the 7th it will be the turn of the Irish group Two Door Cinema Club.

BOOK FAIR

The literary agenda also takes center stage with the celebration of the Madrid Book Fair, which continues this weekend with a program focused on European cultural debate, contemporary literature and the role of new voices.

Booksellers and publishers present at the Book Fair have already made clear their “relative concern” for the second weekend of the literary event. This was the case of the writer and bookseller Marina Sanmartón, head of the Cervantes Bookstore, who, in statements to Europa Press, admitted her concern.

For her part, the director of the Fair, Eva Orúe, reiterated her words from a few weeks ago, explaining that the Pontiff’s visit “evidently” will have an impact. “It is evident that it is going to affect us, in a way that bringing 1 million or 1.5 million people could not. We have not changed the programming, we have not changed anything about that day the 7th because we trust that, even if it is a little more difficult to get there, we will arrive. What we are already doing is a call to the exhibitors, the participants in activities and the public to leave home a little earlier and even if they arrive later, to not stop coming,” explained Orúe.

Among the planned events, the meeting ‘Europe is written from the margins: young voices and cultural future’ stands out, as well as the cycle ‘Ibero-America, an open book’ and the colloquium ‘Books that are the cane’, with the participation of Manuel Vilas and Marta Jiménez, scheduled for Saturday the 6th. This same day the tribute to Beatriz de Moura, founder and literary director of Tusquets Editores and who died on April 17, will be held in Barcelona, under the title ‘The books that made us modern’.

The next day, Sunday, June 7 at 6:00 p.m., the panel ‘The defense of European values ​​in the face of the danger of antidemocratic identity retreats’ will take place.

In the signature section, authors such as Marián García (Boticaria García), David Uclés, David Trueba, Fernando Aramburu, Gioconda Belli, Javier Castillo or Mar Flores stand out on Saturday the 6th; while on Sunday the 7th, firms such as Lucía Etxebarría, Andrés Trapiello, Vicente Vallés (7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) and Nando López (6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) will pass through the fair.

FILM PARTY

The cultural agenda is completed with the beginning on Monday the 8th of the Film Festival, which will be held throughout Spain until Thursday the 11th. More than 336 cinemas throughout Spain participate in this initiative that will especially affect Madrid and Catalonia, according to the Federation of Cinemas of Spain (FECE).

On the billboard will be films such as ‘Torrente Presidente’, ‘Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie’, ‘Calle Málaga’, ‘The Benetón Family +2’, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, ‘Michael’, ‘Mortal Kombat 2’, ‘I Won’t Die of Love’, ‘Couture’, ‘Hokum’, ‘Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition’, ‘Pizza Movies’, ‘A Son’, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’, ‘The Beast’, ‘Cowgirl’, ‘Murder on the Third Floor’, ‘The Night Rider’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Mallorca Confidential’, ‘The Drama’, ‘Runner’, ‘In the Face’, ‘The Hübener Affair’, ‘The Chair’, ‘Shrek 25th Anniversary’, ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’, ‘Scary Movie’, ‘Everything That Never’ We were’, ‘La luz’, ‘Backrooms’, ‘Pioneers: they just wanted to play’ and ‘Every day a smart one is born’, among others.

‘WHITE (AND YELLOW) NIGHT’

In parallel, the cultural initiative ‘Night in White (and Yellow) will be held, to which several entities and museums have joined, opening their doors with extended hours and with free access on the night of Saturday, June 6 to Sunday, June 7.

Thus, the Reina Sofía Museum will open its doors free of charge from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., while the Thyssen Museum will be open until 12:00 a.m. The Prado will also celebrate its ‘El Prado at night’ initiative from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

The Royal Collections Gallery, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and the Naval Museum also participate in this ‘Night in White (and Yellow) initiative; cultural and artistic centers such as CaixaForum, Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Fundación Mapfre; local museums such as the Madrid History Museum, the Debod Temple or the San Isidro Museum; or entities, both public and private, such as the Canal Theaters or the Banca March Garden.