"I came to say goodbye to you but to say goodbye with joy. Forget any temptation of nostalgia, of melancholy that could cross you, this is a party", said the singer to the 15,000 spectators of the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, among which was Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The singer and composer, figure of the Spanish text song, announced his retirement a year ago, saying he wanted to say "farewell to the public" during this final tour, which came to close nearly 60 years of career.
“Before an epidemic, the weather or the people” force me to “retire, I bow out”, wrote the musician on his website, saying he no longer wanted to “go on stage”, without stopping to so much "to live".
Joan Manuel Serrat, known for his commitment against the Franco dictatorship (1939-75), and who shared the stage of the Bobino theater in Paris in 1976 with Georges Brassens, is the author of nearly 300 songs and about thirty albums.
Spanish singer Joan Manuel Serrat during the last concert of his farewell tour, December 23, 2022 in Barcelona © Josep LAGO / AFP
Well known in Latin America, he was awarded the title of "Personality of the Year" in 2014 at the Latin Grammy awards.
© 2022 AFP