Pianos return to city centre streets in Barcelona

Pianos have returned to the streets of Barcelona city centre.

The 'Barcelona full of pianos' initiative, jointly organised by the Occidente Foundation and the Maria Canals International Piano Competition, have brought ten grand pianos to the streets, for any passerby to play, from 11 am to 8 pm.

The instruments are found mostly between Passeig de Sant Joan and Carrer Consell de Cent.

Professional and amateur pianists, music students, pupils and, in general, all citizens are invited to try out their hand on the keys.

Each piano will be attended by a facilitator who will encourage the public to participate.

The collaboration between the Occidente Foundation and the Maria Canals Competition has brought this initiative to several cities throughout Spain, including ​​Madrid, Bilbao, Seville, Cadiz, Malaga, Salamanca, Toledo, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia, León, Granada, San Sebastián, Zaragoza, Cáceres, Santander, Cordoba, Palma, Valladolid, as well as the Catalan capital.

Director of Occidente Foundation, Natxo Gallardo-Bravo, told the Catalan News Agency that in the first year of the project, 2013, they were worried about how the public would react, "but the years have shown that the initiative is increasingly lively, with more people participating."

The director says the point of the project is to break images that he believes exist in people's imaginations about the "elitist and not accessible" instruments normally found in large auditoriums and theaters.