Toni Falgueras and his daughter Meritxell, from the long-established Sants wine merchant Celler de Gelida, will be the heralds for Barcelona’s La Mercè 2026, according to reporting published on 22 July.

The appointment gives Sants a prominent role in the city’s main festival. For residents and independent businesses in the neighbourhood, it places a family-run local shop at the centre of the opening ceremony for one of Barcelona’s biggest annual public events.

El Periódico and La Vanguardia both reported that Antoni Falgueras, known as Toni, had been chosen as the festival’s pregonero, the person who delivers La Mercè’s opening proclamation. The published report naming Meritxell Falgueras says she will share the herald role with her father.

Celler de Gelida is a wine merchant in Sants. An earlier report by ARA described the business as turning 130 and identified Meritxell and Ferran as Toni Falgueras’s children.

  • Heralds: Toni Falgueras and Meritxell Falgueras.
  • Business: Celler de Gelida, the Sants wine merchant.
  • Festival: La Mercè 2026 in Barcelona.

Barcelona’s 2026 guest city will be Shanghai, which was named the first Asian guest city for La Mercè in a February report by Xinhua. The supplied material does not give dates, a venue or attendance arrangements for the proclamation, so residents should await the published La Mercè programme before making plans.

Primary sources: Barcelona City Council. Reported by Edu Gil, Carlos Márquez Daniel, russpain.com, Trinitat Gilbert Martínez, thisisbarcelona.com, irbarcelona.org, barcelona-tourist-guide.com, beteve.cat, english.news.cn, mesto-barcelona.cz, barcelonaexpatlife.com, Nuria Martínez, Elena Garrido, Metrópoli Abierta - Urban Life.