Joan Manuel Serrat

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Joan Manuel Serrat

Joan Manuel Serrat's love affair with Catalonia goes back a long way. He was one of the few to stand up to Franco in the late sixties when he refused to sing in Castilian at the 1968 Eurovision and was even eventually exiled in 1974. He paid the price for his insubordination but is now reaping the rewards of that rebellion in the hearts and minds of the Catalan people, who seem to associate him with their own sense of nationalism and pride. It is undoubtedly this burly refusal to conform,combined with his undoubted artistic skills, which have earned him such cult status.

His latest work, Hijo de la luz y de la sombra is testimony to this complex artist, as he puts some of Miguel Hernández’s work to song to commemorate the birth of a poet who, like Serrat, stood up to authority to produce one of Spain's most enduring artistic legacies.