Barcelona bids farewell to beloved folk musician Núria Feliu

Friends, neighbors, and fans flocked to Barcelona's Sants district headquarters on Sunday to pay their respects to Núria Feliu, a beloved folk musician who died on Friday morning aged 80.

Barcelona mayor Ada Colau was in Sants, where Feliu was from, on Sunday morning alongside other council members and announced the neighborhood would be home to a square named after her.

Catalan president Pere Aragonès, who also paid his respects, called her a "very loved" artist with "an incorruptible commitment" to the Catalan language.  

A prominent figure in the Nova Cançó movement, Feliu, who was also an actor, sought to normalize the use of Catalan during the Franco dictatorship. 

Feliu performed in a variety of genres including Catalonia's traditional 'sardana' dance, jazz, bolero, country, and cuplé, as well as Catalan folk songs.

Considered a local diva, she was a charismatic character and even commissioned a giant 'gegant' figure that is usually seen during traditional festivities in her image in her local neighborhood of Sants where she always remained very close.

The musician was very involved in the local community and did not hide her political support for the old Convergència i Unió center-right party Catalan nationalist party.

Feliu was awarded some of the highest civil recognitions in Catalonia, including the Creu de Sant Jordi, or Saint George's Cross, in 1985, and the Medalla d'Honor de Barcelona, or Barcelona's Medal of Honor, in 2008.

A career spanning over 50 years

In 1964, she made her debut as a singer accompanied by the band Els Quatre Gats, and recorded her first albums, 'Anirem tots cap al cel' and 'Gent', which were Catalan versions of international songs. Feliu went on to release over 40 albums in her career, spanning over half a century.

In 1966, she began a collaboration with the internationally famed Catalan jazz composer Tete Montoliu, which resulted in an album recorded with artists Erich Peter, Billy Brooks and Booker Ervin. Three decades later, another album with all collaborations between 1965 and 1990 was published.